Can you automatically alphabetize in excel

Organizing spreadsheets are part of the job. Can you help? The great part about Sheets, just like Excel, you will not have to worry about manual edits when you wish to sort or filter your data.

There is a way to have them auto-sorted by column using the functions provided in the tabs or through a formula you can place directly into a cell. The steps below will detail how you can organize your Google Sheet data automatically. As you analyze and work within Google Sheets, more and more content will begin to accumulate. This is when the ability to organize the information becomes that much more important. Google Sheets allows you to reorganize that information by sorting and applying filters to it.

Good, you are almost there! Now, select any cell in the resulting column, click the A to Z or Z to A button on the Data tab, and there you have it - a list alphabetized by the last name:.

In case you need to revert to the original First Name Last Name format, there is a little more work for you to do:.

Split the names into two parts again by using the below formulas where E2 is a comma-separated name :. The process may look a bit complex on paper, but trust me, it will take only a few minutes in your Excel. In fact, it will take even less time than reading this tutorial, let alone alphabetizing the names manually :. In one of the previous examples we discussed how to alphabetize rows in Excel by using the Sort dialog box.

In that example, we were dealing with a correlated set of data. But what if each row contains independent information? How do you alphabetize each row individually? In case you have a reasonable number of rows, you can sort them one by one performing these steps.

If you have hundreds or thousands of rows, that would be an enormous waste of time. Formulas can do the same thing much faster. To begin with, copy the row labels to another worksheet or another location in the same sheet, and then use the following array formula to put each row in alphabetical order where B2:D2 is the first row in the source table :.

If you are not very comfortable with Excel array formulas, please following these steps to enter it correctly in your worksheet:. Unfortunately, there is no easy solution for duplicates. If you know one, please do share in comments!

But since we need kind of "alphabetical lookup", we have rebuilt it in this way:. Due to a clever use of absolute and relative references, the returned number is incremented by 1 as we go right. That is, for G2, the lookup value is 1, for H2 - 2, for I2 - 3. Select "Continue with the current selection" followed by "Sort This will reorder just the data you highlighted.

Click "Cancel" if you made a mistake and would rather sort the entire document. For you. World globe An icon of the world globe, indicating different international options.

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Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders. It often indicates a user profile. Log out. Smart Home. In Excel and for Windows or Excel and for Mac , select the list you want to sort. Excel provides numerous ways to enter, sort, and work with virtually any kind of data. Check out 6 Ways to Sort Data in Excel for more helpful tips and information.

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