Excel - Create a custom list to sort data

Posted on: 12/03/2021

Excel makes it easy to sort using built-in custom lists, you can sort data—either by days of the week or months of the year. I'll demonstrate how to create your own custom lists to sort by any other characteristic that doesn’t sort well alphabetically—such as high, medium, and low—or S, M, L, XL, or fiscal months of July to June or October to September. You can create a custom sort list for products or regions.

YouTube video

Create a custom sort list PC/Windows

In a column of a worksheet, type the values to sort by.
Arrange them in the order that you want to define the sort order—from top to bottom.
Select all of the cells in that list, and then click File - Options - Advanced.
Scroll way down to the General section and click Edit Custom Lists...
In the Custom Lists box, click Import.
Click OK twice.

**File - Options - Advanced - Edit Custom List in Excel**

Import custom list - fiscal months example — **Import Custom List in Excel**
*The example is Fiscal Months Jul to Jun*

Create a custom sort list - Mac

On the Excel menu, click Preferences, and then under Formulas and Lists, click Custom Lists .
Click Add.
Type the values for your list in the order that you want them sorted, with a comma between each value.
When you are finished, click Add, and then close the Custom Lists box.

Microsoft support article for Mac https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/sort-a-list-of-data-in-excel-for-mac-3b0e62c1-ef88-4176-babb-ccf1cb1e6145

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Chris Menard

Chris Menard is a certified Microsoft Trainer (MCT) and works as a full-time Trainer at BakerHostetler - one of the largest law firms in the US. He runs a YouTube channel with 900+ technology videos that cover various tools such as Excel, Word, Zoom, Teams, Gmail, Google Calendar, and Outlook. To date, the channel has helped over 20 million viewers. Menard also does 2 to 3 public speaking events every year, presenting at the Administrative Professional Conference (APC), the EA Ignite Conference, the Support Staff Conference, the University of Georgia, and CPA conferences. You can connect with him on LinkedIn at https://chrismenardtraining.com/linkedin or watch his videos on YouTube at https://chrismenardtraining.com/youtube.