WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:08.500 --> 00:00:12.690 When you have a lot of different rows your spreadsheet, you may want to sort 00:00:12.690 --> 00:00:16.910 the data so you can view it more easily. Sorting can reorder things 00:00:16.910 --> 00:00:23.350 alphabetically, numerically, by date, or even in a custom order that you choose 00:00:23.350 --> 00:00:27.690 Depending on your preference, you can their sort from the Home tab, using the 00:00:27.690 --> 00:00:30.530 using the Sort and Filter drop-down menu 00:00:30.530 --> 00:00:34.150 or you can use the command in the Data tab. 00:00:34.150 --> 00:00:38.510 In this example, I have a worksheet with a list of t-shirt orders and I'd like 00:00:38.510 --> 00:00:41.690 to sort them alphabetically by last name. 00:00:41.690 --> 00:00:45.660 Just click any cell in the column you want to sort by, and then click the 00:00:45.660 --> 00:00:50.520 Ascending command that's the one that says A-Z. 00:00:50.520 --> 00:00:55.490 You'll notice that when we sort one column, Excel also reorders the other 00:00:55.490 --> 00:01:00.120 columns so that each row still has the correct information. 00:01:00.120 --> 00:01:03.920 If we wanted these in reverse order we can click the Descending command, 00:01:03.920 --> 00:01:07.650 that's the one that says Z-A. 00:01:07.650 --> 00:01:14.540 Now this method doesn't always work if your spreadsheet has an unusual layout. 00:01:14.540 --> 00:01:18.489 What what happens when I try to sort the data here on the right. 00:01:19.380 --> 00:01:23.120 See how the header row is included in the sort by mistake? 00:01:23.120 --> 00:01:25.500 In a situation like this, you might need to 00:01:25.500 --> 00:01:30.010 manually select the cells you want instead of relying on Excel to do it for you. 00:01:30.430 --> 00:01:34.220 This is called sorting a cell range. 00:01:34.220 --> 00:01:38.300 Select the cell range you want to sort, including the header row if you have one, 00:01:38.300 --> 00:01:44.250 then click the Sort command and a dialog box will appear. 00:01:44.250 --> 00:01:49.380 First, check the box that says my data has headers. Then use the drop down menu on 00:01:49.380 --> 00:01:54.730 the left has used the column you want to sort by. Then select a sorting order. 00:01:54.730 --> 00:02:01.050 In this example, we will choose Largest to Smallest. When you're done click OK, 00:02:01.050 --> 00:02:04.040 and the range will be sorted by the selected column. 00:02:04.040 --> 00:02:08.649 Notice that the rest of the worksheet wasn't affected by our sort. 00:02:08.649 --> 00:02:13.161 Sometimes the default sorting options won't work for what you have in mind. 00:02:13.170 --> 00:02:17.900 For example, if we sort the columns that contain the t-shirt sizes in ascending order, 00:02:17.900 --> 00:02:24.750 the order will be large, medium, small, then extra large, because the column is 00:02:24.750 --> 00:02:29.380 being sorted alphabetically. You know, it would bebetter if the sizes were listed in a 00:02:29.380 --> 00:02:35.650 more logical order; in other words, small medium, large, and extra large. 00:02:35.650 --> 00:02:39.220 For this, we will need to create custom sort. 00:02:39.220 --> 00:02:44.220 To begin, click the Sort command and on the right you can see that it's ordering 00:02:44.220 --> 00:02:50.800 the column from A-Z. If we click the drop down menu and select Custom List, 00:02:50.800 --> 00:02:53.730 we can enter the t-shirt sizes in the order we want. 00:02:53.730 --> 00:03:01.970 So I'll click in the box and start typing: small, medium, large, and x-large, and 00:03:01.970 --> 00:03:04.840 I'm pressing Enter after each one. 00:03:04.840 --> 00:03:07.900 And when you're done with your list, click the Add button 00:03:07.900 --> 00:03:13.890 and make sure the list is selected over here on the left, then click OK to confirm 00:03:13.890 --> 00:03:16.170 and OK again. 00:03:16.170 --> 00:03:19.810 and now the worksheet is sort of the way we want 00:03:19.810 --> 00:03:23.950 The only problem with this is that every other column is completely out of order. 00:03:23.950 --> 00:03:29.069 What I would really like is if the homeroom numbers were organized within 00:03:29.069 --> 00:03:31.250 each t-shirt size. 00:03:31.250 --> 00:03:36.070 I can do this by sorting by multiple levels. This will let us sort first by 00:03:36.070 --> 00:03:39.260 t-shirt size and then by homeroom. 00:03:39.260 --> 00:03:43.090 Click the Sort command and you'll notice the different options at the top of the 00:03:43.090 --> 00:03:49.019 dialog box. You can add a level to the sort, delete a level, or even use the arrows to 00:03:49.019 --> 00:03:51.790 change the level order. 00:03:51.790 --> 00:03:54.810 In this example we want to add a level. 00:03:54.810 --> 00:03:59.760 Now we just have to select the Homeroom column and we'll leave the other two fields the way they are 00:03:59.760 --> 00:04:05.300 sorting the values from smallest to largest; And when you click 00:04:05.300 --> 00:04:12.120 OK, you'll see that within each t-shirt size, the homeroom numbers are listed in numerical order. 00:04:12.140 --> 00:04:16.019 As you can see, there are a lot of different ways of sorting your data, 00:04:16.019 --> 00:04:20.269 depending on how you organize it. So take some time to experiment with the 00:04:20.269 --> 00:04:23.410 different options and find the ones that best suit your needs.