How To Sort Columns In Google Sheets

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In this blog post, we will learn how to sort columns in Google Sheets. This can be a vital tool when dealing with large sets of data, as it allows you to quickly and easily arrange your data in a way that makes it more readable and accessible. This can drastically reduce the time you spend on data analysis and interpretation.

Simple Sorting: Ascending or Descending

Let’s start with the basics. The simplest way to sort data in Google Sheets is to do an ascending or descending sort. This means arranging your data from lowest to highest (ascending) or highest to lowest (descending).

Here’s how to do it:

  1. Click on the letter of the column you want to sort.
  2. Click on the “Data” menu at the top, then select “Sort sheet by column A-Z” for ascending sort or “Sort sheet by column Z-A” for descending sort.

Sorting Using Custom Order

In some cases, you might need to sort your data using a custom order. Google Sheets allows you to do this using the “Sort range” option.

Here’s how to sort using a custom order:

  1. Select the range of cells you want to sort.
  2. Click on the “Data” menu, then select “Sort range”.
  3. In the dialog box that appears, select the column you want to sort by, and then specify the order you want to sort in.
  4. Click “Sort”.

Sorting Multiple Columns

You can also sort multiple columns at once in Google Sheets. This is useful when you have data that should be sorted by more than one factor.

Here’s how to sort multiple columns:

  1. Select the range of cells you want to sort.
  2. Click on the “Data” menu, then select “Sort range”.
  3. Click on “+ Add another sort column” in the dialog box that appears, and specify the columns and sort orders you want.
  4. Click “Sort”.

Sorting Programmatically using Google Apps Script

If you want to automate the sorting of your data, you can use Google Apps Script. Google Apps Script is a JavaScript-based scripting language that allows you to automate tasks in Google Sheets and other Google apps.

Here’s how to sort a column programmatically using Google Apps Script:

First, you need to get access to the sheet and the range you want to sort:

    var sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().getActiveSheet();
    var range = sheet.getRange("A1:C10");

Then, you can sort the range by a specific column. For example, to sort by column B in ascending order:

    range.sort({column: 2, ascending: true});

Remember, in Google Apps Script, columns are numbered starting from 1, so column A is 1, column B is 2, etc.

I hope this guide has helped you understand how to sort columns in Google Sheets. Happy sorting!