Want to organize your sheet in Excel but can’t figure out a way to alphabetize your data? Well, we’ve got you covered right here.
Alphabetizing is the process of sorting your data into alphabetical order rather than the original jumbled order in which you first inputted it. This can help you organize your sheets and give them a clean look. But how do you alphabetize in Excel? This is a question almost every new Excel user asks.
In this guide, we’ll discuss two methods for quickly completing the task. So, without wasting another second, let’s dive in!
Using the Sort button
The quickest way to alphabetize your data in Excel is by using the Sort button.
Step
Select the data
To use the sort method, you first need to select all of the data that you want to alphabetize. You can either select the entire column or just click on the first cell.
Step
Organizing more than one column
Organizing more than one column means that Excel will match the data from the second column to the newly alphabetized first column. This is a great feature that means you don’t need to re-input the data after the order of the first column has changed.
Step
Click the Sort button
Now that you have highlighted the cells that you want to organize, click the Sort button from the Data Ribbon at the top of your screen.
A box will appear and ask you for the column that you want to sort the data by. You can then decide how you want to alphabetize the data – either by A-Z or by Z-A.
Step
Save the changes
Click OK to save your settings. The box should disappear and you will be left with your organized data.
Using the filtering method
The second method of alphabetizing your Excel spreadsheet is using the filter function.
Step
Select the cells
To use the filter method, select all of the cells that you want to alphabetize – as well as any columns that you want to be included in the new order.
Once done, click on the Filter button that can be found in the Data tab.
Step
Choose your option
At the top of the column, you should see a small drop-down arrow. Click on this arrow and you should see a menu pop up.
In this menu, you can find both ‘Sort A to Z’ and ‘Sort Z to A’ options. Choose whichever you’d prefer and the column will automatically organize itself alphabetically.
You can now do this with any columns that you have in your Excel spreadsheet.
Conclusion
Both of these methods work very well if you are trying to alphabetize data on your Excel spreadsheet. You can alphabetize as much or as little data as you need to.
If you want to learn more about Excel, give these guides a read:
