Explanation
Sorting changes the order of records, while filtering temporarily displays only records that meet specified criteria.
Practice Dataset
|
Employee |
Department |
City |
Sales |
|
Rahul |
Sales |
Sirsa |
120000 |
|
Amit |
Sales |
Sirsa |
85000 |
|
Neha |
HR |
Hisar |
45000 |
|
Priya |
Finance |
Fatehabad |
95000 |
|
Simran |
Sales |
Hisar |
70000 |
Sort A–Z
Sorts text alphabetically.
If Employee is sorted A–Z:
Amit → Neha → Priya → Rahul → Simran
For numbers, the equivalent ascending sort is Smallest to Largest.
Sort Z–A
Sorts text in reverse alphabetical order.
For numbers, use Largest to Smallest.
Example: Sales becomes:
120000 → 95000 → 85000 → 70000 → 45000
Custom Sort
Custom Sort allows multiple levels.
Example:
First: Department — A to Z
Then: Sales — Largest to Smallest
This is useful when analyzing large business datasets.
Filter
Use:
Data → Filter
Filter arrows appear in the header row.
You can filter:
- Text
- Numbers
- Dates
- Selected values
Example:
Department = Sales
Result:
|
Employee |
Department |
Sales |
|
Rahul |
Sales |
120000 |
|
Amit |
Sales |
85000 |
|
Simran |
Sales |
70000 |
Clear Filter
Clear removes the current filtering criteria and displays all records again.
Reapply
Reapply applies the current sort/filter again after underlying data has changed.
Practice
Using the Employee dataset:
- Sort Employee A–Z.
- Sort Sales Largest to Smallest.
- Apply a multi-level Custom Sort.
- Filter Department = Sales.
- Clear the filter.
- Change data and test Reapply.