How to Sort Alphabetically in Excel

By Mark R. Frechione

Alphabetical ordering organizes the cells in a column within an Excel spreadsheet by the first letter in the first word of the cell. For instance, you could organize a soccer team's line up by player name. The Microsoft Excel task bar enables users to organize spreadsheets as they see fit.

Step 1

Create your spreadsheet using the Microsoft Excel columns. Place the names you want organized in one column, with one name in each cell. In the soccer example, you could list them "Last name, First name," such as in this example: "Robbins, Johnny," "Ferguson, Anne," and so on.

Step 2

Select a cell from the column you want to organize alphabetically by left-clicking. The soccer spreadsheet will be organized by last names, and you could click "Robbins, Johnny," "Ferguson, Anne," or any of the listed names.

Step 3

Choose the "Sort A to Z" button to sort in ascending alphanumeric order or the "Sort Z to A" button to sort in descending alphanumeric order in the top task bar. If you chose "Robbins, Johnny" in the soccer example and clicked the "Sort A to Z button", it would sort: "Adams, Douglas," as the first name and "Zahn, Monty" as the last name and "Robbins, Johnny," somewhere in between.

Tips & Warnings

  • Any information in the corresponding columns will shift with the corresponding name. For instance, if you selected "Robbins, Johnny" the corresponding columns with his stats would move with his name, so that the information remains organized.