Quick start: Sort data in a worksheet

When you sort information in a worksheet, you can see data the way you want and find values quickly. You can sort a range or table of data on one or more columns of data; for example, you can sort employees first by department and then by last name.

How?

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Select the data that you want to sort    

  • Select a range of data, such as A1:L5 (multiple rows and columns) or C1:C80 (a single column). The range can include titles that you created to identify columns or rows.

Selected data

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Sort quickly    

  1. Select a single cell in the column on which you want to sort.
  2. Click Button Image to perform an ascending sort (A to Z or smallest number to largest).

Quick sort buttons in the Sort and Filter group on the Data tab

  1. Click Button Image to perform a descending sort (Z to A or largest number to smallest).
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Sort by specifying criteria    

You can choose the columns on which to sort by clicking the Sort command in the Sort & Filter group on the Data tab.

  1. Select a single cell anywhere in the range that you want to sort.
  2. On the Data tab, in the Sort & Filter group, click Sort.

Sort command in the Sort and Filter group on the Data tab

The Sort dialog box appears.

  1. In the Sort by list, select the first column on which you want to sort.
  2. In the Sort On list, select either Values, Cell Color, Font Color, or Cell Icon.
  3. In the Order list, select the order that you want to apply to the sort operation — alphabetically or numerically ascending or descending (that is, A to Z or Z to A for text or lower to higher or higher to lower for numbers).

Next steps

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Applies to:
Excel 2010