Easy Ways to Sort Alphabetically in Excel

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Microsoft Excel is great for organizing all sorts of data, from finances to customer info. Keeping your data alphabetized makes it much easier to find and use. In Excel, alphabetizing simply means sorting your data from A to Z (ascending) or Z to A (descending).

For example, imagine you have a huge list of customer orders. Trying to find a specific order by hand would take forever. But, if you alphabetize the customer names, you can quickly jump to the info you need.

Excel gives you different ways to alphabetize your data, depending on what you’re working with. You can sort single columns or rows, specific sections, or even entire sheets. Plus, you can sort multiple columns or rows at once. Let’s explore some easy ways to sort data in Excel.

Why bother alphabetizing in Excel?

Sorting your data alphabetically offers some real perks:

• It makes your data easier to read and better organized.
• You can quickly look up specific names or values.
• It helps you spot duplicate entries, cutting down on errors.
• You can group columns or lists to compare them side-by-side.

Alphabetizing is a simple trick that can make a big difference, especially if you deal with a lot of information. The main ways to do this in Excel are the A-Z and Z-A buttons, the sort feature, the filter option, and formulas.

Method 1: Using the Sort Feature for Single Columns

The fastest way to alphabetize a single column is by using Excel’s built-in sort tools.

1. Open your spreadsheet and select the column you want to sort. Make sure you don’t have any blank cells selected.
2. Go to the Data tab on the ribbon. In the Sort & Filter group, click the A-Z button for ascending order or the Z-A button for descending order.
   
   

Note: If there are blanks, Excel might only sort up to the first blank cell. To sort the entire column, you can simply click on any single cell within the column and then choose the sort option.

Your list should now be alphabetized.

Method 2: Sorting with Keeping Rows Together

When you have multiple columns, it’s important to keep the rows together when sorting. For example, if you’re sorting student names, you want their grades or other information to stay with the correct name.

1. Select the column you want to sort by. If you want all the related data in other columns to stay aligned, make sure to select those columns as well.
2. Click on the A-Z or Z-A button in the Data tab to sort your selected column.
   
   

When you sort, you might see a Sort Warning box. Pick Expand the selection and click Sort.

This makes sure that all the row data stays together.

If you choose Continue with the current selection, only that one column will sort, which might mess up the alignment of your data.

Method 3: Sorting Alphabetically by Multiple Columns

Excel also lets you sort by multiple columns, which is handy when you need to organize by more than one category.

For example, let’s say you have columns for both “Country” and “First Name”. You might want to sort first by country, then by name within each country.

1. Select the entire table you want to sort.
2. Go to the Data tab and click Sort in the Sort & Filter group.
   
   
3. In the Sort window, choose the main column you want to sort by from the Sort by dropdown (e.g., “Country”). Pick the sort order (A to Z or Z to A).
   
   
4. Click Add Level to add a second sorting level. Select your second column (e.g., “First Name”) and its sort order.
   
   
5. Click OK to sort.

Your data will now be sorted first by country, then by first name within each country.

Method 4: Sorting Rows Alphabetically

Sometimes you need to sort your data horizontally, alphabetizing rows instead of columns. Excel can do this if you change the sort direction.

For example, you could have city names in the first row and want to sort them from left to right.

1. Select the rows you want to sort. Don’t include any labels if you don’t want them to move.
2. Go to the Data tab and click Sort.
   
   
3. In the Sort window, click the Options button.
   
   
4. In the Sort Options dialog, select Sort left to right and click OK.
   
   
5. Back in the Sort dialog, choose the row you want to sort by from the Sort by dropdown (e.g., “Row 1”), select “Cell Values” in the “Sort On” field, and pick the order you want.
   
   
6. Click OK to sort the rows.

Now your first row will be sorted alphabetically, and the other rows will adjust to match.

Method 5: Using a Filter to Sort

The Filter feature is another quick way to sort alphabetically.

1. Select the column or columns you want to filter. You can also just click any cell inside your data table to apply filters to the whole thing.
2. Go to the Data tab and click Filter.
   
   

Drop-down arrows will appear in each column header.
3. Click the arrow in the header of the column you want to sort. Choose Sort A to Z or Sort Z to A from the menu.

The column will now be sorted, and a small arrow will show the sorting direction.

Method 6: Advanced Sorting with Custom Order

Sometimes, alphabetizing isn’t the best way to sort. For example, a list of months should be sorted chronologically, not alphabetically. Excel lets you sort by custom lists.

1. Select the data you want to sort.
2. Go to the Home tab, click Sort & Filter in the Editing group, and choose Custom Sort.
   
   
3. In the Sort window, select the column that you will sort (e.g. months). In the Order field, choose Custom List.
   
   
4. In the Custom Lists window, select a predefined list or create your own if needed. Then, click OK.
   
5. Click OK to sort your data using the custom list.

Your data will now be sorted in the custom order you specified, like months in calendar order.

Method 7: Alphabetizing Using Excel Formulas

You can also use formulas to sort data alphabetically, which is great for data that needs to update automatically.

Let’s say you have a list of names in column B and want to alphabetize it with formulas.

1. Add a new column next to your data (column A) and label it “Sorting Order”.
   
   
2. In cell A2, enter this formula to calculate the alphabetical position of each name:

=COUNTIF($B$2:$B$20,"<="&B2)

This formula counts how many names in the range B2:B20 are less than or equal to the name in B2, to figure out its order.
3. Copy the formula down the entire column.

4. In a new column (column D), use the VLOOKUP function to get the names in alphabetical order. In cell D2, type:

=VLOOKUP(ROW()-1,$A$2:$B$20,2,FALSE)

This formula looks up the name based on its sort order number.
5. Copy the VLOOKUP formula down the column to list all names in alphabetical order.

Method 8: Alphabetizing by Last Name

Sometimes you need to sort a list of names by last name. This means you need to extract the last names first.

1. Add two new columns to separate first and last names.
2. In the first new column (column C), use this formula to get the first name:

=LEFT(A2,SEARCH(" ",A2)-1)

3. In the second new column (column D), use this formula to extract the last name:

=RIGHT(A2,LEN(A2)-SEARCH(" ",A2))

4. Combine last name and first name in reverse order (e.g. “Last Name, First Name”) in a new column, like this:

=D2&", "&C2

5. Copy the formula to convert it to values by copying and pasting them as values.
6. Sort the new column alphabetically.

7. If you need to revert back to “First Name Last Name” format, you can extract and combine the names using formulas:

To extract the first name:

=LEFT(E2,SEARCH(" ",E2)-2)

To extract the last name:

=RIGHT(E2,LEN(E2)-SEARCH(" ",E2))

8. Combine them to restore the original name format:

=FirstNameCell&" "&LastNameCell

After all these steps, you’ll have a list sorted by last name while keeping the names in their original format.

Alphabetizing data in Excel makes it much easier to manage and find information. Whether you’re sorting a single column, multiple columns, rows, or even using formulas, Excel has robust features for organizing data effectively.