Learning Excel: Sorting by several columns

Sorting

Isla is looking for the biggest orders, but they're all jumbled up, in the order they came in. Sorting a list in Excel takes two taps, if you know where.

Sorting

Every header of this list has a little button. With it you sort the list by that column: smallest to largest, or the other way round.

Excel always moves the whole row, so each order stays together: the beer, the customer and the litres all move as one.

	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	I
1	Quarter	Beer	Customer	Packaging	Litres	Price	Revenue	Result
2	Q1	Wise Owl	Crown Inn	Keg	300	£2.40	£720.00
3	Q1	Tripel Hoot	Bay Tree Bistro	Bottle	80	£4.50	£360.00
4	Q1	Night Owl	Curlew Inn	Keg	150	£3.20	£480.00
5	Q1	Wise Owl	Festival Hall	Keg	600	£2.20	£1,320.00
6	Q1	Barn Owl	Bay Tree Bistro	Bottle	60	£4.00	£240.00
7	Q2	Wise Owl	Crown Inn	Keg	350	£2.40	£840.00
8	Q2	Tripel Hoot	Crown Inn	Bottle	90	£4.50	£405.00
9	Q2	Night Owl	Bay Tree Bistro	Bottle	120	£3.40	£408.00
10	Q2	Wise Owl	Curlew Inn	Keg	200	£2.40	£480.00
11	Q2	Barn Owl	Festival Hall	Keg	250	£3.60	£900.00
12	Q3	Wise Owl	Festival Hall	Keg	800	£2.20	£1,760.00
13	Q3	Tripel Hoot	Bay Tree Bistro	Bottle	110	£4.50	£495.00
14	Q3	Barn Owl	Crown Inn	Keg	180	£3.80	£684.00
15	Q3	Wise Owl	Curlew Inn	Keg	250	£2.40	£600.00
16	Q3	Night Owl	Crown Inn	Keg	100	£3.20	£320.00
17	Q4	Night Owl	Festival Hall	Keg	400	£3.00	£1,200.00
18	Q4	Tripel Hoot	Curlew Inn	Bottle	70	£4.50	£315.00
19	Q4	Wise Owl	Crown Inn	Keg	320	£2.40	£768.00
20	Q4	Barn Owl	Bay Tree Bistro	Bottle	90	£4.00	£360.00
21	Q4	Tripel Hoot	Festival Hall	Keg	300	£4.20	£1,260.00
22

By more than one column

Want the biggest revenue at the top within each quarter? Then you sort on two levels, with the Custom Sort button: first Quarter, then Revenue.

The first level decides. The second only counts for rows that are equal on the first.

	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	I
1	Quarter	Beer	Customer	Packaging	Litres	Price	Revenue	Result
2	Q1	Wise Owl	Crown Inn	Keg	300	£2.40	£720.00
3	Q1	Tripel Hoot	Bay Tree Bistro	Bottle	80	£4.50	£360.00
4	Q1	Night Owl	Curlew Inn	Keg	150	£3.20	£480.00
5	Q1	Wise Owl	Festival Hall	Keg	600	£2.20	£1,320.00
6	Q1	Barn Owl	Bay Tree Bistro	Bottle	60	£4.00	£240.00
7	Q2	Wise Owl	Crown Inn	Keg	350	£2.40	£840.00
8	Q2	Tripel Hoot	Crown Inn	Bottle	90	£4.50	£405.00
9	Q2	Night Owl	Bay Tree Bistro	Bottle	120	£3.40	£408.00
10	Q2	Wise Owl	Curlew Inn	Keg	200	£2.40	£480.00
11	Q2	Barn Owl	Festival Hall	Keg	250	£3.60	£900.00
12	Q3	Wise Owl	Festival Hall	Keg	800	£2.20	£1,760.00
13	Q3	Tripel Hoot	Bay Tree Bistro	Bottle	110	£4.50	£495.00
14	Q3	Barn Owl	Crown Inn	Keg	180	£3.80	£684.00
15	Q3	Wise Owl	Curlew Inn	Keg	250	£2.40	£600.00
16	Q3	Night Owl	Crown Inn	Keg	100	£3.20	£320.00
17	Q4	Night Owl	Festival Hall	Keg	400	£3.00	£1,200.00
18	Q4	Tripel Hoot	Curlew Inn	Bottle	70	£4.50	£315.00
19	Q4	Wise Owl	Crown Inn	Keg	320	£2.40	£768.00
20	Q4	Barn Owl	Bay Tree Bistro	Bottle	90	£4.00	£360.00
21	Q4	Tripel Hoot	Festival Hall	Keg	300	£4.20	£1,260.00
22

Ready for more?

The full lesson has 6 exercises, from easy to challenging, with hints, points and a streak you can build.

Start the lesson

Sorting

Every header of this list has a little button. With it you sort the list by that column: smallest to largest, or the other way round.

Excel always moves the whole row, so each order stays together: the beer, the customer and the litres all move as one.

	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	I
1	Quarter	Beer	Customer	Packaging	Litres	Price	Revenue	Result
2	Q1	Wise Owl	Crown Inn	Keg	300	£2.40	£720.00
3	Q1	Tripel Hoot	Bay Tree Bistro	Bottle	80	£4.50	£360.00
4	Q1	Night Owl	Curlew Inn	Keg	150	£3.20	£480.00
5	Q1	Wise Owl	Festival Hall	Keg	600	£2.20	£1,320.00
6	Q1	Barn Owl	Bay Tree Bistro	Bottle	60	£4.00	£240.00
7	Q2	Wise Owl	Crown Inn	Keg	350	£2.40	£840.00
8	Q2	Tripel Hoot	Crown Inn	Bottle	90	£4.50	£405.00
9	Q2	Night Owl	Bay Tree Bistro	Bottle	120	£3.40	£408.00
10	Q2	Wise Owl	Curlew Inn	Keg	200	£2.40	£480.00
11	Q2	Barn Owl	Festival Hall	Keg	250	£3.60	£900.00
12	Q3	Wise Owl	Festival Hall	Keg	800	£2.20	£1,760.00
13	Q3	Tripel Hoot	Bay Tree Bistro	Bottle	110	£4.50	£495.00
14	Q3	Barn Owl	Crown Inn	Keg	180	£3.80	£684.00
15	Q3	Wise Owl	Curlew Inn	Keg	250	£2.40	£600.00
16	Q3	Night Owl	Crown Inn	Keg	100	£3.20	£320.00
17	Q4	Night Owl	Festival Hall	Keg	400	£3.00	£1,200.00
18	Q4	Tripel Hoot	Curlew Inn	Bottle	70	£4.50	£315.00
19	Q4	Wise Owl	Crown Inn	Keg	320	£2.40	£768.00
20	Q4	Barn Owl	Bay Tree Bistro	Bottle	90	£4.00	£360.00
21	Q4	Tripel Hoot	Festival Hall	Keg	300	£4.20	£1,260.00
22

By more than one column

Want the biggest revenue at the top within each quarter? Then you sort on two levels, with the Custom Sort button: first Quarter, then Revenue.

The first level decides. The second only counts for rows that are equal on the first.

	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	I
1	Quarter	Beer	Customer	Packaging	Litres	Price	Revenue	Result
2	Q1	Wise Owl	Crown Inn	Keg	300	£2.40	£720.00
3	Q1	Tripel Hoot	Bay Tree Bistro	Bottle	80	£4.50	£360.00
4	Q1	Night Owl	Curlew Inn	Keg	150	£3.20	£480.00
5	Q1	Wise Owl	Festival Hall	Keg	600	£2.20	£1,320.00
6	Q1	Barn Owl	Bay Tree Bistro	Bottle	60	£4.00	£240.00
7	Q2	Wise Owl	Crown Inn	Keg	350	£2.40	£840.00
8	Q2	Tripel Hoot	Crown Inn	Bottle	90	£4.50	£405.00
9	Q2	Night Owl	Bay Tree Bistro	Bottle	120	£3.40	£408.00
10	Q2	Wise Owl	Curlew Inn	Keg	200	£2.40	£480.00
11	Q2	Barn Owl	Festival Hall	Keg	250	£3.60	£900.00
12	Q3	Wise Owl	Festival Hall	Keg	800	£2.20	£1,760.00
13	Q3	Tripel Hoot	Bay Tree Bistro	Bottle	110	£4.50	£495.00
14	Q3	Barn Owl	Crown Inn	Keg	180	£3.80	£684.00
15	Q3	Wise Owl	Curlew Inn	Keg	250	£2.40	£600.00
16	Q3	Night Owl	Crown Inn	Keg	100	£3.20	£320.00
17	Q4	Night Owl	Festival Hall	Keg	400	£3.00	£1,200.00
18	Q4	Tripel Hoot	Curlew Inn	Bottle	70	£4.50	£315.00
19	Q4	Wise Owl	Crown Inn	Keg	320	£2.40	£768.00
20	Q4	Barn Owl	Bay Tree Bistro	Bottle	90	£4.00	£360.00
21	Q4	Tripel Hoot	Festival Hall	Keg	300	£4.20	£1,260.00
22