This tutorial will teach you how to sort by last name in Google Sheets.
How To Sort By Last Name In Google Sheets
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Sorting data is one of the most basic tasks users often do with a spreadsheet.
However, there may be instances where it is not directly clear how to sort a sheet as you intend.
For example, you might want to sort your data by last name but your dataset only includes a single field with the full name.
In this guide, we will show you how to sort by last name in Google Sheets. We will explain how to split a cell containing a full name into two columns, one for the first name and one for the last name. Then, we will show you how to sort your data by the last name column.
How To Arrange a Range of Rows By Last Name In Google Sheets
Here’s how to arrange a range of rows by last name in Google Sheets.
Step 1
First, create two new fields for the first name and last name.
Step 2
The SPLIT function allows users to split a string into multiple strings based on a provided delimiter character.
We can use the SPLIT function to divide a field with a first name and last name into two different values. The formula will use the whitespace character “ “ as the basis for splitting the string.
Step 3
Use the AutoFill feature to fill out the rest of the first name and last name fields.
Step 4
Next, right-click on the Last Name column and select a sorting option.
You may choose to either sort the sheet alphabetically from A to Z or in reverse alphabetical order.
Step 5
Your table should now be sorted alphabetically according to last name.
Summary
This guide should be everything you need to sort by last name in Google Sheets.
You may make a copy of this example spreadsheet to test it out on your own.