Sometimes you may need to do a sort that is not an alphabetical or ascending sort in Microsoft Excel. Below are the steps on how you can create a custom sort in Microsoft Excel to sort the data in the order you want it represented.
Open Excel and select all of the data you want to be sorted.
How to select one or more cells in a spreadsheet program.
How to select an entire row or column in a spreadsheet.
Click the Data tab and then the Sort button (shown below).
In the Sort box (shown below) click Custom List under Order.
In the List entries box, enter how you want the data sorted. For example, we’ve entered “2E, 2D, 2S, 3E, 3D, 3S, 4E, 4D, 4S” as our sort order.
Once you’ve completed entering the data into List entries, click the Add button and then click Ok.
If you want the data next to the sorted data to remain in the same row, make sure you highlight everything including the column you want sorted.
Related information
- How to sort a list in Microsoft Excel.
- Easily sort data in Microsoft Excel with the auto filter.
- See our sort definitions for further information and related links.
- Microsoft Excel help and support.
