Sorting Data Using Excel

 

A. Simple Sorting of Data

 

1.Highlight the  data that you want to sort.

 

2.Sort the data  by going to  DATA>SORT…

 

3.Choose a category from the SORT BY list.

4. Choose to sort your data so that it is ASCENDING or DESCENDING.

If you are not sure what these words mean, you can try both ways and

see if you can figure them out.

5. Click OK.  Your list will sort according to your selection.

 

 

B. Sorting “By, Then By”

 

This way of sorting allows you to sort your data first in one category

and then do a second sort within your first category. 

 

For example, imagine you had a list of students and the homerooms

that they were in.  First you could sort the students by homeroom, and

secondly, you could sort the students alphabetically by last name.  This

would give you an alphabetical list of each homeroom.  If you only

sorted by last name, your list would not be divided by homeroom.  

 

To do this, you would “Sort by Homeroom” and “Then by Last

Name”.  Sorting this way works well if multiple people have something

in common, like the town they live in, or the school they go to.

 

Try sorting your data using  “by, then by”…

 

1. Follow the directions above.  Choose from the SORT BY list and then choose from the THEN BY list . 

2.Don’t forget to choose Ascending or Descending. 

3. Click OK when you are finished. 

 

 

 

 

C. Using the List Wizard

The list Wizard provides some shortcuts for sorting your data.  

 

1. Go to VIEW, TOOLBARS, LIST in the top menu.

 

2. Click on LIST WIZARD in the new small window. 

 

 

3. Make sure that all of the data you want to include is highlighted.

Click FINISH in the new window that appears.

 

4. Use the small arrows at the top of each column to sort your data by

choosing from the drop down menu that appears.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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D. Filtering your data

 

Filtering your data allows you to “pick out” specific data from your

lists.  If you had a list of the entire 7th grade, and you want to “pick

out” all of the students in 7B, you could filter your data by choosing all

homerooms “equal to” 7B.  Your list will be temporarily reduced to just

students in that homeroom.  You can also filter other ways such as

“greater than” or  “less than”.  If you had a list of a teams batting

averages, you could quickly “pick out” those players who are batting

above .300.

 

 

1. Using the List Wizard, click on the small arrows at the top of

your columns and click on CUSTOM FILTER…

 

 

 

 

2. Make a choice from the drop down list

 

 

 

3. Choose data to be sorted by in the list to the right.

 

 

 

 

4. Click OK and examine your data.

 

5. To remove the filter and return to all of your data, click the small

arrows on the top of your column and choose SHOW ALL.  This will

bring you back to your original, unfiltered list.

 

 

 

Alternate Filtering Method

 

1. Go to DATA, FILTER, AUTOFILTER – click AUTOFILTER

2. To remove the List Wizard - Go to DATA, FILTER, AUTOFILTER –

uncheck  AUTOFILTER