Excel: Sorting and Filtering Data

Sorting and filtering are two of the most useful everyday Excel skills for working with lists of data like customer records, inventory, or financial data. Sorting Data: Quick sort (one column): 1. Click any cell in the column you want to sort by 2. Go to Data tab > click A-Z (ascending) or Z-A (descending) Excel sorts the entire dataset based on that column. Multi-level sort (sort by more than one column): 1. Click anywhere in your data 2. Data tab > Sort 3. In the Sort dialog, set your primary sort column and order 4. Click Add Level to add a secondary sort (e.g. sort by Last Name, then by First Name) 5. Click OK Important: Always make sure your entire data range is selected or that Excel detects it correctly before sorting — partial sorts can scramble your data. Filtering Data (AutoFilter): AutoFilter lets you temporarily hide rows that don't match your criteria, so you only see the data you care about. Turning on AutoFilter: 1. Click anywhere in your data range (make sure there's a header row) 2. Data tab > Filter (or press Ctrl + Shift + L) Dropdown arrows appear on each column header. Using filters: Click the dropdown arrow on any column header: - Uncheck items to hide them - Use "Text Filters" for contains, begins with, equals conditions - Use "Number Filters" for greater than, less than, between conditions - Use "Date Filters" for this week, last month, specific date ranges Filtering for multiple values: In the dropdown, use the checkboxes to select exactly which values you want to show. Uncheck "Select All" first, then check the specific values. Clearing a filter: Click the dropdown on the filtered column > Clear Filter from "[Column Name]" Or: Data > Clear to remove all filters at once. Seeing only unique values (removing duplicates): Data tab > Remove Duplicates — select which columns to check and Excel removes rows with duplicate values in those columns. Always work on a copy of your data first. Tip: The filter dropdowns show a filter icon when that column is being filtered, making it easy to see which columns have active filters.