Set Up Your Own Sort Order In Excel

You can instruct Excel to sort the data in a worksheet. If the sorting orders within Excel do not meet your requirements, you can create your own sorting order. For example, if you type in Red, Green, Blue, and Black, Excel would normally sort them in alphabetical order. However, if you do not want them sorted this way, you can create your own custom sort order by completing the steps listed below:

1. Within Excel, click Tools and click Options.

2. Select the Custom Lists tab.
3. Under Custom Lists, verify that NEW LIST is highlighted.
4. In the List Entries field, start typing in your list elements in the order they should be sorted. Make sure you press Enter after each element.
5. Once you have typed in all the elements, press Add.
6. Click OK.

You can now use the special sort order to sort your data. Select the cells that contain the data you want to sort. From the Data menu, click Sort. Select the Options button. Use the drop down arrow to select the sort order you created in the previous steps. Click OK. Click OK to close the Options dialog box.