Sorting Data

Sort reorders whole rows by a column — largest expense first, or departments A to Z. Nothing is deleted; only the display order changes.

Before paying the biggest invoices, James Okonkwo sorts Amount descending on Expenses — the £610 textbook row surfaces immediately.

Eight sample purchases on NorthgateBudget.xlsx Expenses sheet become easy to audit once sorted.

Switch to the Expenses sheet. Type the header row and eight sample rows (or paste from the table below).

Row 1: Date, Department, Category, Description, Amount (£). Rows 2–9: the eight expenses in the table.

Click any cell in the Amount column (e.g. E5). Home tab → Editing group → Sort & Filter → Largest to Smallest.

(Alternative: Data tab → Sort & Filter → Sort Z→A on Amount.)

If Excel asks Expand the selection vs Continue with current selection, choose Expand the selection so whole rows move together.

Expected result: The £610 GCSE workbook row moves to the top. Rows stay intact — only order changes.

Click any cell in column B (Department). Home → Sort & Filter → Sort A to Z. Choose Expand the selection.

Expected result: English expenses group together, then Humanities, Mathematics, and so on.

Useful when Dr. Helen Marsh wants a walkthrough by department, not by amount.

Example: Data → Sort opens a dialog: sort by Department A to Z, then Add Level → Amount largest to smallest. Science's £610 row appears above its £185 row — without splitting departments.

If you select only column E and sort, amounts reorder but Department and Description stay on the wrong rows — Science's £610 links to Arts' sketch pads.

Always choose Expand the selection when sorting a table with multiple columns.

Row numbers may turn blue with gaps after a sort — that is normal. Hidden rows from a filter are different; sort works on all visible data.