Using the Sort Order Feature in Excel Spreadsheets

In spreadsheet programs such as Excel and Google Spreadsheets, there are several different sort orders available depending on the type of data you're sorting.

Ascending vs. Descending Sort Order

For text or numeric values, the two sort order options are ascending and descending. Depending upon the type of data in the selected range, these sort orders will sort data in the following ways:

For Ascending Sorts

• Sort A to Z — for text data
• Sort Smallest to Largest — for number data
• Sort Oldest to Newest — for date or time data

For Descending Sorts

• Sort Z to A — for text data
• Sort Largest to Smallest — for number data
• Sort Newest to Oldest — for date or time data

Sorting by Color and Sort Orders

In addition to sorting by values, such as text or numbers, Excel has custom sorting options that permit sorting by color for text/font color, cell color, and conditional formatting icons.

Sort Order Defaults

Most spreadsheet programs, such as Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets, use the following default sort orders for different types of data, but options can still vary between application versions:

• Blank Cells: In both ascending and descending sort orders, empty cells are always placed last.
• Numbers: Negative numbers are considered the smallest values, so the largest negative number always comes first in ascending sort order and last in descending order, such as:
  • Ascending Order: -3,-2,-1,0,1,2,3
  • Descending Order: 3,2,1,0,-1,-2,-3
• Dates: The oldest date is considered to be of lesser value or smaller than most recent or newest date, such as:
  • Ascending Order (oldest to most recent): 1/5/2000, 2/5/2000, 1/5/2010, 1/5/2012
  • Descending Order (most recent to oldest): 1/5/2012, 1/5/2010, 2/5/2000, 1/5/2000
• Alphanumeric Data: A combination of letters and numbers, alphanumeric data is treated as text data, and each character is sorted from left to right on a character by character basis.
• Logical or Boolean Data: TRUE or FALSE values only, and FALSE is considered lesser in value than TRUE.

Hidden Rows and Columns and Sorting

Hidden rows and columns of data are not moved during sorting, so they need to be unhidden before the sort takes place.

For example, if row 7 is hidden from your spreadsheet, and it is part of a range of data that is sorted, it will remain as is rather than be moved to its correct location as a result of the sort.

The same idea follows for hidden columns of data. When sorting by columns, if Column B is hidden before the sort, it will remain as Column B and not be reordered with the other columns in the sorted range.