How to Alphabetize in Excel? 2 Easy Methods
(Note: This guide on how to Alphabetize in Excel is suitable for all Excel versions, including Office 365)
When it comes to data analysis, one of the most important formats is sorting data in alphabetical order. The sort icon can be accessed with a single click using the sort icon. However, there are other ways to alphabetize in Excel for specific needs.
In Excel, you can sort multiple rows and columns simultaneously with individual sorting rules for the rows and columns. To be precise, you can set the A→Z sort to one row and Z→A sort to the other, and so on for multiple rows.
I will show you the different methods of how to alphabetize in Excel in this article.
You’ll learn the following:
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Need to Alphabetize in Excel
Before we learn how to alphabetize in Excel, let us discuss the need to do it.
While working on large projects, say monthly expenses, candidate results, sales by region, or a product list, it is necessary to organize the worksheet to understand the table displayed.
Lack of proper organizing leads to:
- Misinterpretation of the values,
- Lack of clarity in the content, and
- Difficulty while filling values in corresponding rows/columns.
Moreover, unorganized worksheets lack professional skills and divert the reader’s attention.
How to Alphabetize in Excel? 2 Different Methods
To alphabetize in Excel, let us create a table containing the list of members and their scores out of 100. You can use the Home tab sort icon to alphabetize the Excel data.
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Using the Sort & Filter Icon:
Step 1 – Create a New Workbook from Microsoft Office Excel, or choose an existing file in which you want to sort the values.
Step 2 – Select the list of names you want to sort by dragging the mouse, using the arrow keys, and holding the Shift key.
Step 3 – Hover the mouse to the Home tab, and under the editing section, click on the Sort & Filter icon.
Step 4 – Select the A→Z (ascending order) from the Sort & Filter dropdown box options. You can also choose the Z→A (descending order) option when you need to sort data in reverse alphabetical order.
Step 5 – Once you choose the sort type, a dialog box appears with two options: expand the selection or continue with the current selection. Choose the option you want and click Sort to alphabetize the selection.
By clicking the Expand the selection option, every data corresponding to the particular row gets sorted. To be precise, all relevant data corresponding to George gets sorted to the final location of the name in the chosen order. This is essential when you don’t want to mess up the corresponding data to the list that is to be arranged or sorted.
By choosing the continue with the current selection option, only the selected column gets sorted, and no change is made to the adjacent column.
Here is the sorted list; you can see the corresponding values to the names are also arranged accordingly. Follow the same steps to sort data in descending order by choosing the Z→A option.
In this method, we saw how to alphabetize in Excel using the Sort & Filter option.
Using the Filter Icon:
To sort your data in ascending, descending, or custom format, you can apply the Filter command on the column you want to sort.
Step 1 – Select the title or heading assigned to the particular column you want to sort. In this instance, the heading Name is to be selected.
Step 2 – Go to the Data tab and click on the Filter icon to apply a filter command to the heading.
Clicking on the Filter icon applies the filter command to the adjacent rows. You can sort the data by clicking on the filter icon beside the heading and choosing the sort type.
Step 3 – To sort the column in ascending or descending order, select the A→Z or Z→A option and select the custom sort option to sort data in any particular condition you want.
The filter command provides other sorting options, such as sorting by color, text filters, and filtering based on individual values of the column. This means you can deselect certain values you don’t want to sort.
Step 4 – You can choose the type of sort from the list. I have chosen the custom sort for this demonstration, in which we can sort multiple columns at once by clicking the + Add Level icon.
In the Custom sort dialog box, you can sequentially sort the column based on conditions and the type of order in which you need to arrange the data.
Step 5 – Click OK to apply the sorting format to the set of columns once done.
Custom sorting is an efficient way to sort your data, especially while dealing with large data. Adding the Filter option increases functionality and is easily accessible with simple clicks.
We saw how to alphabetize in Excel using the Filter icon in this method.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What are the different sorting options in Excel?
The different methodson how to alphabetize in Excel are:
1. Sort & Filter icon
2. Filter Icon
How to quickly alphabetize in Excel?
The easiest way to sort data is using the Home Tab‘s Sort & Filter icon. You can also sort the data by adding Filter to the column and choosing the right sort option.
Can I simultaneously sort multiple rows/columns in Excel?
You can use the custom sort option to arrange multiple Excel columns/rows simultaneously in the desired format. To do that, click on the Sort & Filter icon from the Home Tab.
Does changing the order of one column affect the corresponding columns?
Yes. The sort function prompts two options, allowing you to change the values along with corresponding cells or proceed with sorting in selected cells only.
Closing Thoughts
Sorting data in Excel enhances the readability of your worksheet and makes data analysis feasible. You can improve important aspects of your project and better visualize your content by applying the sorting options to your data.
This article helped you learn how to alphabetize Excel using two methods.
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Simon Sez IT taught Excel and other business software for over ten years. You can access 150+ IT training courses for a low monthly fee.
Simon Calder
Chris “Simon” Calder was working as a Project Manager in IT for one of Los Angeles’ most prestigious cultural institutions, LACMA.He taught himself to use Microsoft Project from a giant textbook and hated every moment of it. Online learning was in its infancy then, but he spotted an opportunity and made an online MS Project course - the rest, as they say, is history!
