Sorting by Columns

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated September 2, 2023)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

Most sorting in Excel is done by row, meaning that you order the rows based on the contents of a particular column in the information being sorted. At times you may have a need to change the orientation of your sorting, meaning you need to sort columns based on the contents of a particular row.

Excel makes sorting by column easy, although it is not particularly intuitive. Simply follow these steps:

  1. Select the range of cells you want to sort. Make sure you select the column headers in the range.
  2. Choose the Sort option from the Data menu. Excel displays the Sort dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

    3. Figure 1. The Sort dialog box.

  3. Click on the Options button. Excel displays the Sort Options dialog box. (See Figure 2.)

    4. Figure 2. The Sort Options dialog box.

  4. Choose the Sort Left to Right option button.
  5. Click on OK to close the Sort Options dialog box.
  6. Click on OK to sort your data.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2709) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Letters Bunched Up at the Left of the Page

If your documents don't behave as you expect, it may take a bit of sleuthing to figure out what is going on. This tip ...

Discover More

Changing Excel's Starting Date

When keeping track of dates, internally, Excel uses special date serial numbers that are based upon a specific day in the ...

Discover More

Looking Backward through a Data Table

Sometimes you need to look backward, through the information above your formula, to find the data you need. This can be ...

Discover More

Professional Development Guidance! Four world-class developers offer start-to-finish guidance for building powerful, robust, and secure applications with Excel. The authors show how to consistently make the right design decisions and make the most of Excel's powerful features. Check out Professional Excel Development today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

Sorting by Five Columns

Excel allows you to sort but up to three columns, but you may want to sort by more than that. This tip provides ways you ...

Discover More

Too Many Formats when Sorting

Sorting is one of the basic operations done in a worksheet. If your sorting won't work and you instead get an error ...

Discover More

Sorting Letters and Numbers

Sorting information in a worksheet can be confusing when Excel applies sorting rules of which you are unaware. This is ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 9 - 0?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the menu interface (Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, or Excel 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.

Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2026 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.