Mastering the Art of Sorting in Excel

In this presentation, author and Excel expert David H. Ringstrom, CPA, will guide you through the essential techniques for sorting data effectively in Excel. Discover how to sort lists by color, implement case-sensitive sorting, and arrange data in monthly order. David will also cover advanced topics such as sorting data on protected worksheets and the nuances of sorting within PivotTables, ensuring you can manage your data with precision. Additionally, learn how to allow users to sort and filter only specific data, empowering them to interact with your spreadsheets seamlessly. Join us to enhance your Excel skills and streamline your data management practices!

David is the author of “Microsoft Excel 365 for Dummies”, “Exploring Microsoft Excel’s Hidden Treasures”, and has written or co-authored six other books. He demonstrates every technique at least twice: first, on a PowerPoint slide with numbered steps, and second, in the subscription-based Excel for Microsoft 365. David draws your attention to any differences in Excel 2021, 2019 or 2016 during the presentation and in his detailed handouts. The handouts include an Excel workbook with most of the examples he uses during his demonstrations.

Excel for Microsoft 365 is a subscription-based product that receives periodic feature updates. Conversely, perpetually licensed versions have year numbers in their names and do not receive any feature updates.

Who Should Attend
Professionals seeking to use Microsoft Excel more effectively.

Topics Covered

• Understanding the Sort feature in Excel for rearranging lists of data
• Disabling the Protected View prompt
• Contrasting sorting data within worksheets to the nuances of sorting data within PivotTables
• Using the SORT function together with the Spilled Range Operator in Microsoft 365 and Excel 2021 to create data validation lists that sort automatically when new items are added
• Eliminating repetitive sorting processes with Power Query
• Overriding Excel's default case-insensitivity to sort data in a case-sensitive fashion
• Using the SORT function and spilled range operator in Microsoft 365 and Excel 2021 to create self-sorting and self-expanding data validation lists
• Sorting columns into alphabetical order automatically in Power Query
• Understanding the nuances of sorting lists of data in Excel
• Nesting dynamic array functions such as SORT and UNIQUE together
• Sorting lists of data dynamically from elsewhere in a spreadsheet with the new SORT function
• Enabling users to sort data on protected worksheets

Learning Objectives

• Recognize the number of levels that Microsoft Excel allows you to potentially sort on
• Recall how worksheet protection impacts sorting in Excel and recognize that sorting is disabled unless explicitly allowed when protecting the sheet
• Recall which tab of the PivotTable Options dialog box that the Use Custom Lists setting appears within

Level
Intermediate

Instructional Method
Group: Internet-based

NASBA Field of Study
Specialized Knowledge and Applications (2 hours)

Program Prerequisites
Prior experience with Microsoft Excel is recommended.

Advance Preparation
None