Sorting data (single and multi-level) in Excel - Cell-by-Cell Formula Trace

Sample Data

Employee data with Name, Department, and Score columns.

Cell	Value
A1	Name
B1	Department
C1	Score
A2	Alice
B2	Sales
C2	85
A3	Bob
B3	HR
C3	90
A4	Charlie
B4	Sales
C4	78
A5	Diana
B5	HR
C5	88
A6	Evan
B6	IT
C6	92
A7	Fiona
B7	Sales
C7	85

Formula Trace

=SORT(A2:C7, 2, 1, 3, 0)

Step 1: Original data range A2:C7

Step 2: Sort by column 2 (Department) ascending

Step 3: Within each Department group, sort by column 3 (Score) descending

Step 4: Final sorted array

Cell Reference Map

     A        B          C
1  Name   Department   Score
2  Alice  Sales       85
3  Bob    HR          90
4  Charlie Sales       78
5  Diana  HR          88
6  Evan   IT          92
7  Fiona  Sales       85

Formula references range A2:C7 for sorting by columns B and C.

The formula uses the data in cells A2:C7. It sorts first by column B (Department) ascending, then by column C (Score) descending.

Result

     A        B          C
1  Name   Department   Score
2  Bob    HR          90
3  Diana  HR          88
4  Evan   IT          92
5  Alice  Sales       85
6  Fiona  Sales       85
7  Charlie Sales       78

The data is sorted first by Department alphabetically, then by Score descending within each Department.

The sorted data shows HR employees first sorted by score descending, then IT, then Sales with scores sorted descending.

Sheet Trace Quiz - 3 Questions

What is the first row of data after sorting by Department ascending and Score descending?

A Diana, HR, 88

B Bob, HR, 90

C Evan, IT, 92

D Alice, Sales, 85

Key Result

SORT(range, sort_column1, sort_order1, sort_column2, sort_order2) sorts data by multiple columns in specified orders.