Filtering and sorting in queries in Excel - Step-by-Step Guide

Introduction

Filtering and sorting in queries help you find and organize data quickly. You can show only the rows you want and arrange them in order, making it easier to understand your data.

When you want to see only sales from a specific month in a large sales report

When you need to list customers alphabetically to find one quickly

When you want to show only products with stock less than 10

When you want to sort employees by their hire date from newest to oldest

When you want to create a summary table that only includes data from a certain region

Steps

Step 1: Click

- any cell inside your data table

Excel recognizes your data range and activates the Table Tools

Step 2: Go to

- Data tab on the ribbon

You see options for sorting and filtering your data

Step 3: Click

- Filter button in the Sort & Filter group

Dropdown arrows appear in the header cells of your table columns

Step 4: Click

- dropdown arrow in the column you want to filter

A menu shows all unique values in that column with checkboxes

Step 5: Uncheck

- values you do not want to see

Only rows with checked values remain visible in the table

💡 Use the Search box to find specific values quickly

Step 6: Click

- dropdown arrow in the column you want to sort

Sorting options appear such as Sort A to Z or Sort Z to A

Step 7: Select

- Sort A to Z or Sort Z to A

The table rows reorder based on the selected column in ascending or descending order

Before vs After

Before

Table shows 100 rows with mixed sales dates and product names in no particular order

After

Table shows only 20 rows with sales from March, sorted alphabetically by product name

Settings Reference

Filter

📍 Data tab > Sort & Filter group > Filter button

To show only rows that meet certain criteria

Default: No filter applied (all rows visible)

Sort

📍 Data tab > Sort & Filter group > Sort buttons or Sort dialog

To arrange rows in ascending or descending order based on column values

Default: No sorting applied (original order)

Common Mistakes

Trying to filter without selecting a cell inside the data range

Excel may not recognize the correct data range and filtering won't work properly

Click any cell inside your data table before applying filter

Sorting only one column without selecting the entire table

This can mix up rows and cause data to mismatch across columns

Use the Sort options from the Data tab which sort entire rows based on the selected column

Summary

Filtering lets you hide rows that don't match your criteria so you see only what matters.

Sorting arranges your data in order, like A to Z or smallest to largest, to find things faster.

Always select a cell inside your data before filtering or sorting to avoid errors.