Perform a 3-Level Sort

Example: We have a list of job assignments that is currently in order by client number.  Now we want to group the assignments by staff member.  Then, for each staff member, we want to sort the assignments by date.  Finally, if a staff member did more than one job on a single day, we want to list the jobs with the most hours first.

Rather than doing three separate sorts, we can do all three steps at once.

1. Click inside the database, then choose Data -Sort.

2. Click the Sort by drop-down arrow and select the first field to use in your sort.  In this case, we'd select STAFF.

Then, since we want the staff members listed alphabetically, we'd select the Ascending option.

3. Click the drop-down arrow for the Then by box, and select the field for the next sort that should be performed.  Here, we'd select DATE, and Ascending to list the earliest dates first.

4. Use the drop-down arrow in the second Then by box to select the field for the third sort.  Here, we'd select HOURS.  But then we'd choose the Descending option to have the record with the largest number of hours listed first.

5. If your database has column headings, make sure the Header row option is selected.  Click OK.

6. Excel will perform your 3-level sort.  In this case, the records are first grouped by STAFF, then for each staff member the records are in order by DATE.  Finally, where a staff member has duplicate dates, the jobs with the highest number of HOURS are listed first.