Using a custom sort order

If you want to sort your data, follow the next steps:

   1.   Open the Sort dialog box, do one of the following:

• On the Home tab, in the Editing group, click the Sort & Filter list and choose Custom Sort...:
  
• Right-click any cell in the table and choose Sort -> Custom Sort... in the shortcut menu:
  

   2.   In the Sort dialog box, in the Order column, select the Custom List...:

   3.   In the Custom Lists dialog box, choose the custom sort list or create a new list:

• Excel, by default, has four "custom lists", and you can define your own. Excel's custom lists are as follows:
  
  • Abbreviated days: Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat
  • Days: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday
  • Abbreviated months: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
  • Months: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

  Note that the abbreviated days and months do not have periods after them. If you use periods for these abbreviations, they are not recognized (and are not sorted correctly).

• You may want to create a custom list. For example, your company may have several stores, and you want the stores to be listed in a particular order (not alphabetically).

  To create a custom list, select the NEW LIST option and make your entries (in order) in the List Entries box.

See also this tip in French: Comment utiliser un ordre de tri personnalisé.