How to Sort Data in Google Sheets: A Step-by-Step Guide

Sorting data in Google Sheets is a straightforward yet powerful tool to organize your datasets efficiently. This guide will walk you through the technical steps to sort data in various ways within Google Sheets and introduce a handy tool, the Add to Sheets Chrome extension, to enhance your data management capabilities.

Sorting Data in a Single Column

• Selecting the Column: Click on the header of the column you want to sort. This action highlights the entire column.
• Applying the Sort: Navigate to the menu bar, select “Data,” and then choose “Sort sheet by column A to Z” for ascending order or “Sort sheet by column Z to A” for descending order.
• Verifying the Sort: Once applied, the data in the selected column will reorder, and the corresponding rows will adjust to maintain the data integrity.

Sorting Data in Multiple Columns

• Selecting the Range: Highlight the range of data you want to sort, ensuring you include all relevant columns.
• Accessing Sort Options: Go to “Data” > “Sort range” and then click on “Advanced range sorting options” to open the sorting dialog.
• Configuring the Sort: In the dialog, set your primary column for sorting and specify the order (ascending or descending). Then, use “Add another sort column” to include secondary sorting criteria.
• Applying Multi-Column Sort: After setting your sorting preferences, click “Sort” to reorganize your data based on the specified criteria.

Custom Sorting

• Defining a Custom Order: If you need to sort data non-alphabetically or non-numerically (e.g., High, Medium, Low), first select your range and access the “Sort range” dialog.
• Applying Custom Sort: Choose the column, then under “Order,” select “Custom list.” Enter your custom sequence and apply the sort to rearrange the data accordingly.

Using Filters to Sort

• Creating a Filter: Click the filter icon in the toolbar or go to “Data” > “Create a filter.” This action adds dropdown arrows in each column header.
• Sorting with Filters: Click the dropdown arrow in the column header and select your sorting preference. The data will sort within the filtered view without altering the overall sheet order.

Sorting with Functions

• SORT Function: Use =SORT(range, sort_column, is_ascending) to dynamically sort data. Place this formula in a separate area or sheet to avoid overlapping data.
• SORTN Function: Use =SORTN(range, n, display_ties_mode, sort_column1, is_ascending1, ...) for more advanced sorting, like returning a set number of sorted rows.

Merging Cells After Sorting

After sorting your data, you might want to merge cells in Google Sheets to create a unified appearance for your data. This can be useful for formatting and organizing your data more effectively.

Using the Add to Sheets Chrome Extension

To further enhance your Google Sheets experience, the Add to Sheets Chrome extension allows you to save data to your sheet directly from the web.

• Installation: Download and install the Add to Sheets extension from the Chrome Web Store.
• Using the Extension: Highlight text or data on any webpage, right-click, and choose “Add to Sheets.” Select the destination sheet and column where you want to insert the data.
• Benefit: This tool is particularly useful for researchers, data analysts, and anyone who needs to quickly transfer web data to Google Sheets.

Conclusion

By following these technical steps, you can sort data in Google Sheets efficiently, whether you’re dealing with simple lists or complex datasets. With the addition of the Add to Sheets Chrome extension, your ability to gather and organize data from the web is significantly simplified, making your workflow more productive and your data analysis more robust.

Try out Add to Sheets for free and start saving time on data entry tasks by saving content directly to Google Sheets Drive files from the web.