Does anyone know how to sort an excel worksheet?

Question

I have a worksheet in excel that has many duplicate names of applicants that I need to delete. The only problem is that there are people in my worksheet that are not the same person they just so happen to have the same name. Does anyone know if there is a wel to sort this out with out doing it manually? Please help! My boss just asked me to do this and get it done TODAY and the list has over 20,000 names on it. HELP!!!

Answer 1

Sorting is easy. Deciding which rows are what is more difficult.

To sort,
1. Click on the column you want to sort on.
2. Click the Data->Sort
3. In the pop-up box, say that you DO want to expand the selection. For some reason, Excel permits sorting a column without retaining its relationship to the other columns. This is rarely desired, and can scramble your data royally.
4. Continue with the sort criteria.

Answer 2

There's a sort tool that you can use. Highlight the whole sheet, go under Data - Sort and you can sort your list in ascending or descending alphabetical order by column. Then I would use the Autofilter (Data - Filter - Autofilter) and you can customize your filter criteria. Here's a link to how to use sorting and filtering data in Excel:

http://www.contextures.com/xlSort01.html

If you are still stuck and need help please email me at [e-mail] and I will be glad to help.

I would also advise you make two copies of the sheet - the original data sort in case you may need it later and a copy that you use to make your changes. This way if you accidentally delete data in error and you aren't sure what you changed you can start again fresh.

Answer 3

I click the table-select button which selects the whole datafile. (It is located to the left of A, and above 1.)

Then, click Data, Sort
- At the bottom left, click to indicate that you have a header row - which I hope you do.
- Where it says "sort by" you will see a down arrow. Click it and choose the field on which you want to sort and if you want it in ascending or descending order.
- click o.k.
That's it.

You can resort it at any time by following the above procedure.

Answer 4

So what is the determining criteria when the names are the same but they are different people - address, phone #, ?

The safest way is to apply Filters, then use them to sort. Hide rows you suspect are dupes - that way if you are wrong you can unhide it later.