The operation of sorting data in the spreadsheet editor Excel from the Microsoft Office suite of programs is often needed when working with arrays of data. Of course, this application does not have the powerful features that are built into applications for working with a database management system - for example, in Access. Nevertheless, the available capabilities are quite enough for working with rather complex and voluminous tables.
It is necessary
Microsoft Office Excel spreadsheet editor
Instructions
Step 1
Open a spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel whose data needs sorting.
Step 2
If you need to sort by data of only one column, then right-click any cell in it. In the context menu that will invoke this action, expand the "Sorting" section. It contains five ways to organize your data - select the option you want. The top two items are intended for sorting in ascending and descending order, and the other three put those rows at the beginning of the table in which the cells of this column are highlighted in color, font or symbol.
Step 3
A shortened version of this list can also be called through the menu of the spreadsheet editor - for this, use the Sort button in the Editing group of commands on the Home tab. In this case, the list will only contain ascending and descending ordering commands.
Step 4
If you need a more complex sorting of data by several columns at once, select the "Custom sorting" line - in both of the options described above, it is present in the menu as an additional item.
Step 5
After selecting this item, a separate window appears on the screen for setting the sort order. In the "Sort by" drop-down list, select the column whose data should be sorted first. In the similar list under Sort, select an ordering object - value, color, font, or icon. In the third drop-down list, specify the sorting order - ascending, descending or according to the specified list. When you select the third item, an additional window will open, in which you must either enter your list, or select one of the existing ones.
Step 6
To set up the next level of sorting, click the "Add level" button and another row of exactly the same drop-down lists will appear in the window. Repeat with them the operations of the previous step. If more levels are required, repeat this step as many times as needed.
Step 7
Click OK, and Excel will sort the data according to the given scheme.
