Sort Data in Spreadsheets (CIE IGCSE ICT)

Sorting data is a powerful feature in spreadsheets

• It arranges your data based on specific criteria
• You can sort in ascending or descending order

You can sort data using a single criterion

• For example, you could sort a list of names alphabetically
• In Excel, select the column you want to sort and then choose 'Sort A to Z' for ascending order or 'Sort Z to A' for descending order

You can also sort data using multiple criteria

• For example, you could sort a list of students first by grade, and then alphabetically by name within each grade
• In Excel, select your data and then choose 'Sort'. Add levels for each of your criteria

Consider the following example spreadsheet:

	A	B
1	Name	Age
2	Alex	15
3	Ben	17
4	Alex	16

• If you sort by 'Name' only (A to Z), the spreadsheet might look like this:

	A	B
1	Name	Age
2	Alex	16
3	Alex	15
4	Ben	17

• If you sort by 'Name' (A to Z) and then 'Age' (Smallest to Largest), the spreadsheet would look like this:

	A	B
1	Name	Age
2	Alex	15
3	Alex	16
4	Ben	17