Custom Sort in Excel: sort by several columns or your own order

The A–Z button sorts by one column. Custom Sort sorts by several columns in priority order, or in an order you define.

Sort by more than one column

1. Click inside the data › Data › Sort.
2. Tick My data has headers.
3. Sort by: Region, A to Z.
4. Add Level › Then by: Date, Oldest to Newest.
5. Add Level › Then by: Amount, Largest to Smallest › OK.

Rows are grouped by region; within each region by date; ties broken by amount.

Your own order (High, Medium, Low)

Alphabetically, “High, Low, Medium” is wrong.

1. In the Sort box, Order › Custom List…
2. Type High, Medium, Low in List entries › Add › OK.

Excel remembers the list for next time.

Months and days in calendar order

Text months (“Jan”, “Feb”) sort alphabetically: Apr, Aug, Dec… Choose Order › Custom List › pick the built-in Jan, Feb, Mar… list. (Real dates always sort correctly — see sort by date.)

Sort left to right

Sort box › Options › Sort left to right — rearranges columns instead of rows.

Keep rows together

Always click one cell inside the table, not a whole column, so Excel sorts complete rows. Ever split a table by mistake? Ctrl+Z right away.

Basic sorting: Sort in Excel · by colour: sort by colour · as a formula: SORT function