How to Sort Data in Ms Excel 2016?

Sorting  comes in a frame when we need to arrange data in a certain fashion i.e. smallest to largest or vice-versa. You can also create your own order for sorting data. So let us move on How to Sort Data in Ms Excel 2016 ?

Steps to Sort Data in Ms Excel 2016:

Step 1: Select the cell to which you want to apply sorting operation. Like, I selected the cell below Total. Inside Home tab, under Editing group, we have Sort and Filter button. Click on it; it provides three sorting operations Sort Smallest to Largest, Sort Largest to Smallest and Custom. Here,  you can directly choose among smallest to largest or largest to smallest.

But for demonstration, I chose Custom Sort to explain the particular tool.

Step 2: As you will select Custom Sort, a Sort dialog box will appear. First, check the Options tab to see whether the sorting will be done from top to bottom or from left to right. For that click Options tab.

Step 3: A Sort Options dialog box will pop up. At the top, there is  Case sensitive checkbox. If you want that sorting must also take care of case sensitivity then mark that checkbox. Under Orientation section, select whether you want to perform sorting in a top to bottom fashion or from left to right fashion. Then click OK.

Step 4: Next, in Sort dialog box you can see a Column section, as we selected top to bottom sorting. In case if we have selected Left to right sorting then Row section would have appeared.

Now under Column section, in Sort by drop box select the column on which you want to apply sort. In Sort On drop box select the base of your sorting i.e. whether you want to sort on values, or colour of cell, or colour of the font, etc. I chose a value. In Order drop down box, I chose Smallest to Largest. But you can also customise the order of sorting Which I have discussed later in the article.

And here is how data has been sorted. You can observe the data in front of the Total values has also shuffled to match the sorting result.

Step 5: Now let us learn how to customise the Order drop down box in Sort Dialog box. As we know the, it already provides the sorting of months and days. You can also create your own order. For example, I have written an order of Batches from 1 to 5.

Step 6: Go to the File>Options.

Step 7: An Excel Options dialog box will be opened. Click on the Advanced option.

Step 8: Under Advanced option in General Section, click on Edit Custom Lists button.

Step 9: A Custom Lists dialog box will pop up. The Import list from cells: box will show the reference of the cells we selected. If it does not appear you can also select it from the spreadsheet where you have written your order list and click on Import. Then click OK.

This is how we can add an order of our choice in Order drop down box of Sort dialog box.

Thank you. Keep reading.