The sort and filter features in Excel prove to be extremely handy in many situations especially when dealing with lists and raw data. It is great when you need to interpret data or filter out bad data.
Highlight the Cells with the data you would like to sort. (in this
case, A2 to E16) To highlight A2 to E16
(in this case) you can place your pointer over A2,
click and hold the left mouse button then drag over E16 and release
the button.
Click on "Data" on the menu bar.
Click on "Sort".
Scenario 1: We want to sort by the salesmans
ID number which is in column B and we want them to count up.
Click on the arrow beside sort by and choose "ID".
Click on "ascending" beside that box.
Click in the circle beside "header row" at the bottom since our
columns are labeled (ie. row 2 has the title for what each column
represents such as name, ID,...
Click OK.
Scenario 2: We are having a contest and
want to know who sold the most items (not highest value).
Click on the arrow beside sort by and choose "Items Sold".
Click on "descending" beside that box.
Click in the circle beside "header row" at the bottom since our
columns are labeled.
Click OK.
Scenario 3: We are letting all salespersons
see the results and want them to find their name easily so we will sort
them alphabetically.
Click on the arrow beside sort by and choose "Name".
Click on "ascending" beside that box.
Click in the circle beside "header row" at the bottom since our
columns are labeled.
Click OK.
Now go back to working on your spreadsheet once it is sorted how you
would like it.
Click on Sorting and Filtering Data Spreadsheet above.
Click Open (if it does not open automatically).
Highlight the Cells with the data you would like to filter. (in this
case, A2 to E16) To highlight A2 to E16
(in this case) you can place your pointer over A2,
click and hold the left mouse button then drag over E16 and release
the button.
Click on "Data" on the menu bar.
Click on "Filter".
Click on "AutoFilter".
Scenario 1: We want to know who we don't
owe commission to so we need to filter out people who don't get commission
which is represented by the value "none" in this case.
Click on the arrow on the right side of "Commission".
Click on "none" in the dropdown box.
*Notice the arrow is now blue. That means this column is being filtered.
Scenario 2: We are done being cheap and
not paying commission so we want to see all the rows again.
Click on the arrow on the right side of "Commission".
Click on "(All)" in the dropdown box. This will show us all our
rows again.
Scenario 3: We want to give everyone that
sold over 10 items a bonus without sorting so we will only show these
salespeople.
Click on the arrow beside sort by and choose "Items Sold".
Click on "(Custom...)" beside that box.
Click on the box where it says equals and chose "is greater
than".
In the box to the right of "is greater than", click and enter "9".
Click "OK".
Now your data is filtered. You can get it back to normal by clicking on the arrow beside the filter column (blue arrow) and choosing "(all)".
If you had any problems completing this module or think some details need
more explanation, please let us know. We also welcome any other feedback.
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