Here are some basic tips for sorting data in you spreadsheet.
For spreadsheets with only one column of data:
- Click on the letter at the top of the column to select the column.
- Then, click on the “Sort and Filter” button at the right of the Home tab on the toolbar up top.
- Finally, choose either “Sort Smallest to Largest” or “Sort Largest to Smallest”, depending on how you want your data arranged.
If you are sorting a spreadsheet with multiple columns (which will be the great majority of the time), you want to be careful not to sort in any way that changes the relationships of information within any of your rows. To avoid that, follow this procedure:
- Select all of the data involved in your sort by clicking and dragging on all the relevant data in your spreadsheet. You can include the header row (i.e., the row with the column names).
- Click on the “Sort and Filter” button
- Select “Custom Sort…” This will bring up a “Sort” dialog box.
- If your data has headers that you highlighted along with your data, select “My data has headers” at the top right of the dialog box, if it isn’t already checked.
- Look at the three drop-down boxes next to the words “Sort by.” These will give you choices for how you want to sort your data. You can choose which column you want to sort by, what cell property you want Excel to sort by in each column (usually "Value"), and in what order you would like Excel to sort them.
- Once you’ve made those initial selections, you can add another level of sorting, by selecting “Add Level”, at the top left.
Hit “OK” to perform your sort when you are done making these selections.
