Excel Sort
Excel Sorting
The Sort Ascending and Sort Descending commands can be used to sort ranges.
From the smallest to the largest, sort upward.
Moving from largest to smallest, sort descendingly.
The A-Z order used by the sort commands also applies to text.
Note: The entire range must be selected in order to sort a range with multiple columns. Sorting a single column can cause the relationships between them to break.
An example of this is provided later in this chapter.
The commands are found in the Ribbon under the Sort & Filter menu ()
Example Sort (text)
Sort the Pokemons in the range A2:A21 by their Name, ascending from smallest to largest (A-Z).
- Select A2:A21
- Open the Sort & Filter menu
- Click Sort Ascending
Note: Since A1 is the column header, it is not included. This is the row where the filter is located. It will mix in with the others if you include it.
The Pokemon were successfully sorted by name, ascending from A to Z, using the Sort Ascending method.
To see what that looks like, try Sort Descending this time!
Example Sort (numbers)
The Pokemon are arranged from smallest to largest according to their total stats.
- Select A2:A21
2. Open the Sort & Filter menu
3. Click Sort Ascending
Fantastic! By using their total stats, the Pokemons were successfully arranged from smallest to largest. Both text and numbers can be sorted using the sort commands.
A Non-Working Example (sorting one column in a range)
Two columns in this example contain relevant data. The Pokemon names are in Column A, while their total stats are in Column B. Consider sorting only one of the columns (A2–A21) by name, ascending.
The attempt to sort results in a warning.
Sorting the names only will destroy the link between a Pokemon’s name and total stats, so it is not advised.
Press “Just sort” to observe the results.
The connection with Columns A and B is broken as a result. The Pokemons’ current total stats are incorrect.
When you select the alternative “Expand and Sort” option in the warning, Column B is included in the sort function and they are sorted according to each other.
Sorting More Than One Column
When sorting ranges with several columns, choose the entire range.
Note: It will always sort by the first column (leftmost) when sorting several columns.
Select A2:B21 and sort the range ascending.
It sorts appropriately and maintains the relationship between the data (Columns A and B) by choosing range A2:B21.
You’ll discover more about filters in the upcoming chapter.
