How do I alphabetize files in Excel?
By Helena G.
While it may depend on your version of Excel, most versions have a 'sort' feature on the tool bar at the top of the workbook - you're looking for the icon and words that say 'Sort A-Z' and 'Sort Z-A'.
Once you've located that bit, decide which direction you want to use making a note of where you need to click to accomplish your task - don't click there yet!
The next thing is to highlight the column you need alphabetized, THEN click the sort icon. Your column will then be sorted.
It's a little tricky, though because often you want all of the data spread across several columns to sort with the one you've highlighted, but if you highlight all the data you want sorted, each column will sort according to the first letter in each column - meaning your data will not correspond to the original column you wanted sorted.
A nice and easy get-around is to write your first column as the one you need sorted - before adding other data across adjoining columns. For example, let's say I want to organise my bead inventory by colour. Column A would be entered first, going down the list of colours as I pull them out of the storage box - red (click to next cell below), blue (click to next cell below), green, etc.
Then I'd highlight the column, sort it alphabetically, and then enter the rest of the data (type, quantity, etc) in the corresponding adjoining columns across.
This also works for numbers.
Hope this helps. You can also access limited free training at MicroSoft's website pages on Excel.
