How can I make some data on a Google Spreadsheet auto-sorting?

Question

Let's say I want Google Doc to automagically sort some data, for example Coloumn C. How do I do that?

I know that I can manually sort data by right-clicking and selecting "sort data", but this is not what I'm looking for.

Answer 1

You can use the sort() function for that, but you have to have your data in one place, and an automatically sorted copy of that data in another place.

For example, say I have Sheet1 with my data:

   | A    | B    | C
=====================
 1 | This | this | 2
 2 | Is   | is   | 1
 3 | Test | test | 3

Then in Sheet2, cell A1, I would put this function:

=sort(Sheet1!A:C, 3, TRUE)

This would show my data, but sorted by column C (the third column), ascending.

   | A    | B    | C
=====================
 1 | Is   | is   | 1
 2 | This | this | 2
 3 | Test | test | 3

Answer 2

It is also possible to use Google Apps Scripts to achieve automatic in-place sorting of the data.

This may be more difficult to achieve and more error-prone (I'd still go for William Jackson's solution, +1 BTW), but I thought it was interesting enough to show.

I have a sheet that looks like this:

I added a new script, using these steps:

• in the menu, go to Tools -> Script Editor...
• select Create a new project

• in the empty code window that appears, paste the following code, which will be run automatically whenever a cell is edited:

  function onEdit(event){
    var sheet = event.source.getActiveSheet();
    var editedCell = sheet.getActiveCell();
  
    var columnToSortBy = 4;
    var tableRange = "B3:E9";
  
    if(editedCell.getColumn() == columnToSortBy){   
      var range = sheet.getRange(tableRange);
      range.sort( { column : columnToSortBy } );
    }
  }
  

• go back to the sheet and start playing around with the values to see the table sort automatically each time

Note:

In the above script,

• the value 4 represents the index of column D (the Value column - the on that's going to be sorted)
• the value "B3:E9" represents the table range (excluding the header row)

Your table will most likely differ from mine, so these values should be adjusted accordingly.

Answer 3

Here's a generic script that will autosort based on the 1st column, and assumes a Header row.

To create a script:

• In the menu, go to Tools -> Script Editor...

In the empty code window, paste the following code, which will run automatically whenever a cell is edited:

 // LinkBack to this script:
 // http://webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/7211/how-can-i-make-some-data-on-a-google-spreadsheet-auto-sorting/43036#43036

 /**
 * Automatically sorts the 1st column (not the header row) Ascending.
 */
function onEdit(event){
  var sheet = event.source.getActiveSheet();
  var editedCell = sheet.getActiveCell();

  var columnToSortBy = 1;
  var tableRange = "A2:T99"; // What to sort.

  if(editedCell.getColumn() == columnToSortBy){   
    var range = sheet.getRange(tableRange);
    range.sort( { column : columnToSortBy, ascending: true } );
  }
}