Shortcut for Sorting Data from A to Z

Bottom Line: Quickly sort your data from A to Z or smallest to largest with this Excel shortcut.

Skill Level: Beginner

Sorting your data quickly can make a big difference in speeding up your workflow. Chances are you've used the Sort & Filter button on the Home tab.

Sort & Filter Button

Whether you're organizing a list of names, numbers, or dates, Excel also has a keyboard shortcut to make sorting a breeze. You can use it to instantly sort your data alphabetically (A to Z) or numerically (smallest to largest).

Shortcut to Sort Data from A to Z

Here’s the shortcut you can use to sort your data alphabetically or numerically in Excel:

  1. Select the column of data you want to sort.
  2. Then, Press Alt + H, S, S on your keyboard.
Keyboard Shortcut Sort Ascending

That’s it! Excel will sort the column you’ve selected in ascending order.

If you need to sort from Z to A (or largest to smallest), just press Alt + H, S, O instead.

Keyboard Shortcut Sort Descending

This shortcut can be used for text, numbers, and dates, making it an all-in-one sorting solution for your everyday tasks.

Conclusion

Sorting your data in Excel doesn’t have to be time-consuming. With just a few keystrokes, you can get your lists in order and move on to your next task.

So, the next time you're working on a project that requires sorting, try using this shortcut. It's especially handy when you're dealing with long lists, saving you time and effort!

What's your favorite Excel shortcut? Leave a comment below!

1 comment

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  • Interesting.

    I’ll stick with “Alt-D, S” for most sorting, but if I ever feel the need for just a bit of streamlining…

    The interesting part is that this keystroke command is the command to make Word sort (not directly and alphabetically, but to bring up its Sort dialog box).

    Makes me wonder if there are other Word keystroke commands that do something in Excel that is related to the functions they have in Word, but are slightly different from the normal way those functions might be accessed in Excel, and also that might give a bit of a variation of functionality that is not in the usual method? (Or vice versa, for that matter.)

    (Mining things like Outlook, Powerpoint, or Access for such seems less likely since their functionalities differ from Word’s and Excel’s so much that commonalities might be scarce on the ground.)

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