Microsoft Excel
Custom Sort Order with 
Custom Lists

Instead of regular alphabetical/numerical sorting, have you ever wanted to establish your own sort order? Perhaps to sort by region: West, Central, East (in that order), or by size: Small, Medium, Large (in that order), or month: January, February, etc.

​

Custom lists make this a snap. So, what is a custom list? Have you ever typed a month or day in a cell, and then used the fill handle to copy the subsequent months or days in their chronological order? This is possible because the days of the week and months are built-in custom lists.

​

You can create your own lists to enter data quickly using the fill handle. You can also sort in the order of your list, which is explained below.

​

STEP 1 - OPEN THE CUSTOM LIST DIALOG BOX

Click the File tab > Options button > Advanced category and then select Edit Custom Lists in the General section

​

STEP 2 - CREATE A CUSTOM LIST

1. In the Custom Lists dialog box, click NEW LIST, and then type the entries in the List entries: box, typing them in the order by which you wish to sort. Hit Enter after each entry.

2. After the list is complete, click the Add button and then OK.

​​

Note: You can also import list entries from a range of cells by typing them in their sort order, selecting them and clicking the Import button.