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Sorting Data in Excel 2003
Use these tips to prevent problems when sorting in Excel. How to sort two
or more columns, sort by row, sort in a Custom Order. For Excel 2007 and later, see the Sorting Data Basics page

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Using the Sort Buttons
In Excel, it's easy to sort your data by using the Sort buttons on
the toolbar. But, be careful, or one column may be sorted, while
others are not.
- Select one cell in the column you want to sort.
- Click Sort Ascending (A to Z, smallest to largest) or Sort Descending
(Z to A, largest to smallest)
- Before you do anything else, check the data, to ensure that the
rows have sorted correctly. If things look wrong, click the Undo
button on the toolbar.


Sort Data by One Column
- Select all the cells in the list.
This is the safest approach to sorting. In most cases, you can select
one cell and Excel will correctly detect the rest of the list -- but
it's not 100% certain. Some of the data may be missed.
- Choose Data>Sort
- From the Sort by dropdown, select the column you want to
sort. Note: If the dropdown is showing Column letters instead
of headings, change the setting for My list has,
from No header row to Header row.
- Select to sort in Ascending or Descending order
- Click OK


Sort Data by 2-3 Columns
- Select all the cells in the list.
- Choose Data>Sort
- From the Sort by dropdown, select the first column you want
to sort.
- Select to sort in Ascending or Descending order
- From the Then by dropdown, select the second column you want
to sort.
- Select to sort in Ascending or Descending order
- From the Then by dropdown, select the third column you want
to sort.
- Select to sort in Ascending or Descending order
- Click OK


Sort Data by 4+ Columns
Occasionally, you may need to sort by more than three columns. For
example, in a mailing list, you may want to sort by Country, Region,
City, and Name. To do this, you can sort the list multiple times, starting
with the least important sort.
In the mailing list, there are four columns to sort. Name and City
are the least important fields in the sorting process, so they can be
sorted first.

- Select all the cells in the list.
- Choose Data>Sort
- From the Sort by dropdown, select City.
- From the Then by dropdown, select Name.
- Click OK
Excel will retain what it can of this sort while you sort by the remaining
fields.
- With all the cells still selected, choose Data>Sort
- From the Sort by dropdown, select Country.
- From the Then by dropdown, select Region.
- Click OK

After sorting, the list is sorted by Country, then by Region, then
by City and finally by Name.

More Tutorials
Sort Data With Macros
Sorting Data Basics
Sort a Row in Excel
Numbers Don't Sort Correctly