How to Master Sort in Google Sheets and Excel: Guide

If you work in sales, marketing, or an agency, you probably live in spreadsheets. Deals, ad performance, invoices, client rosters – all sitting in Google Sheets and Excel. The hidden hero behind every clear view is sorting.

This guide walks through the top ways to handle sorting, from quick manual clicks to fully automated AI agent workflows, so you can stop wrestling rows and focus on decisions.

1. Manual Sorting in Excel (Fast for One-Off Jobs)

Basic sort by a single column

1. Select any cell in the column you want to sort.
2. Go to the Data tab.
3. Click Sort A to Z for ascending (A–Z, smallest to largest) or Sort Z to A for descending.

This is perfect for quick checks: ranking recent deals by value or listing ad sets from highest to lowest CTR.

Multi-level sort (when order really matters)

1. Select any cell in your data range (ideally a table with headers).
2. Data tab → Sort.
3. In Sort by, choose your first column (for example, “Stage”).
4. Choose Order (e.g., custom list: Lead, Qualified, Proposal, Closed Won).
5. Click Add Level.
6. Then sort by a second column (for example, “Amount” Largest to Smallest).

Now your pipeline is grouped by stage and ranked by deal size inside each stage.

Pros

• Very visual; easy for beginners.
• Great for one-time analysis.

Cons

• Easy to mis-click and break row alignment.
• You must repeat steps every time the data changes.

2. Using the SORT Function in Excel (Dynamic and Reusable)

Excel’s SORT formula lets you build a live sorted view that updates when data changes.

Basic SORT formula

• Syntax: =SORT(array, [sort_index], [sort_order], [by_col])
• Example: =SORT(A2:D100, 3, -1)
  • A2:D100 is your data range.
  • 3 means “sort by 3rd column”.
  • -1 means descending (for example, highest revenue first).

Place this formula in an empty area; Excel will spill the sorted results into as many rows and columns as needed.

Pros

• Updates automatically when source data changes.
• Keeps your raw data untouched; analysis lives in a separate view.

Cons

• Requires comfort with formulas.
• Ranges need updating if your data layout changes (unless you use tables).

3. Sorting in Google Sheets with SORT

Google Sheets has a similar SORT function.

Example

=SORT(A2:D, 3, FALSE)

• A2:D is the range.
• 3 is the column index to sort by.
• FALSE means descending.

Combine SORT with FILTER to get ultra-targeted views:

=SORT(FILTER(A2:D, C2:C>1000), 3, FALSE)

You might:

• Filter to campaigns with spend above $1,000.
• Sort those by ROAS or conversions.

4. When Manual and Formula Sorting Break Down

Manual clicks and formulas work well until:

• You manage dozens of similar files for clients.
• Reports must refresh daily or hourly.
• Data comes from many tools: CRM, ad platforms, email, billing.

You end up:

• Opening the same Excel and Sheets files every morning.
• Reapplying sorts, fixing small mistakes, copying values into decks.
• Burning hours on work that could be delegated.

This is where an AI computer agent changes the game.

5. Automating Sorting With a Simular AI Computer Agent

Simular’s AI agents behave like a meticulous teammate sitting at your computer. They can:

• Open Excel workbooks and Google Sheets in the browser.
• Navigate to the right tabs, ranges, and tables.
• Apply SORT or SORTBY, adjust filters, and clean up formats.
• Export sorted views to PDFs, slides, or dashboards.

Example workflow for a sales team

1. The agent opens your CRM export in Excel.
2. It converts the range to a table, then uses the Sort dialog to sort by Stage and Amount.
3. It applies conditional formatting for deals above a threshold.
4. It copies the top 50 deals into a Google Sheet summary, sorted again by close date.
5. It notifies your team in Slack with a link.

You simply say (or type) what you want:
“Sort yesterday’s opportunities by expected revenue and next activity date, then update the team sheet.”

The agent handles every keystroke.

Pros of AI-driven sorting

• Scales to hundreds of files and thousands of rows.
• Runs on schedules or triggers from your existing tools via webhooks.
• Transparent execution: every click and step can be inspected and refined.

Cons

• Requires a bit of upfront design: “What should the agent do, in what order?”
• Best suited for recurring workflows, not one-off experiments.

6. Blending Human Judgment With AI Automation

The sweet spot isn’t choosing between you or the agent. It’s using each for what they’re best at:

• You design the logic: how leads should be sorted, which metrics matter, which clients are priority.
• The agent executes: opening files, entering formulas, pressing the right buttons in Excel and Google Sheets.

Once you’ve set it up, sorting becomes a background process. Your dashboards are simply ready every morning, so you can spend your energy on strategy, not on row 2,147.

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