How to sort lists with multiple levels in Excel

In Microsoft Excel, you are able to sort lists from 1 to 64 levels. This means that when all things are equal in the first column (i.e. duplicate values), Excel will do a second level sort on the next specified column. When all things are equal in the second column, it will further sort by the 3^rd specified column, and so on.  The reason it can do sort by multiple levels is because it is also possible to sort data by colours in Excel 2007 onwards.

If I were to sort my data with a single level, it would probably be sorted alphabetically by name. Sorting with multiple levels will allow you to group items and then sort alphabetically. To sort data and lists by using multiple levels, follow the steps below.

How to sort lists with multiple levels

1. Position the cursor in one of the cells in the selected data.
2. If the ‘Home’ tab in the Ribbon is selected, click ‘Custom Sort’ on the ‘Sort & Filter’ drop-down list.
3. If the ‘Data’ tab is selected, click the ‘Sort’ button. Excel selects all the records of the list (excluding the first row of field names) and opens the ‘Sort’ dialog box.  If you have no header row, then you need to un-select that option so that it includes the top row.
4. Choose the name of the first field that you want the records sorted by in the ‘Sort By’ drop-down list.
5. If you want the records arranged in descending order, remember to select the descending sort option in the ‘Order’ drop-down list to the right.
6. To add another level of sorting, click the ‘Add Level’ button. Repeat step 4 and 5 and apply this to as many levels required.
7. Click OK.

Here’s an example that may help you with this exercise. In this instance, I used 4 levels to sort my data and began with ‘Department’ followed by ‘Division,’ ‘Last Name’ and then ‘First Name.’

As seen in the image below, once I click OK, my data is sorted based on the set levels. Notice when there are duplicates in one column, it’ll be sorted by the second level, and if it’s not a duplicate, it will remain as is? Pretty cool, right?