Sorting Lists in OpenOffce Calc and Writer

FAQ: How to sort lists in OpenOffice Calc

Step 1

Select the entire data range that you want to sort. This includes all the columns that have data that need to be kept in
line with the column that you want to sort.

Include the headers of the column as well, as OpenOffice will pick these up as column headings automatically (we’ll
see this in the next step).

In the example below, I’ve selected the Vegetables, Quantity and Price columns, including the headings.

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Step 2

From the menu, select Data > Sort.

Step 3

You will then be presented with the Sort Box below.

Can you see how the ‘Sort By’ column has picked up the column headings? This makes it easier to select the values
that we want to sort by.

Select the name of the column that you want to sort by, then select either Ascending (A-Z,0-9) or Descending (Z-A,9-
0).

Then click on OK.

In the example above, I sorted by Vegetable, but I could have equally have sorted by price or quantity.

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FAQ: How to sort lists in OpenOffice Writer
When putting lists together, sometimes we don’t put them in alphabetical or numerical order. Fortunately OpenOffice
Writer can help us sort them into order automatically – and relatively easily.

Step 1
Highlight all the text that is to be sorted.
If that text is in a table, highlight the table (it will sort the rows
automatically).

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Step 2
Select Tools > Sort.

Step 3
In the Sort box, select the order by which you want to sort. If you are sorting a table, then Key 1 will be the first
condition that will be used to sort, and you can specify the column, Key 2 will be the 2nd condition, etc. For lists, this
doesn’t apply.

You will also decide if you want the order to be Ascending (A->Z), or Descending (Z->A) in this box.

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Step 4

Click OK, and your list will be sorted.

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