My custom list is >2,000 character - how can I custom sort this spreadsheet?

[smatterchu]

I have monthly reports that need to be sorted in an order other than ABC. I have the proper order of each product, and the list is 79 separate items/rows (over 2,500 characters). I tried to create/import a custom list and ran into the character limit.

How can I set up some sort of lookup table or data table to get these sorted properly? From the source data, I will be putting these into a pivot table. At what point, can I get these in the desired order?

Please use "small words" I'm just getting back into the world of Excel, and I'm super-rusty with the past few versions. I haven't done much in years, but I'm enjoying re-learning it!

Thanks in advance for your help.

TL

 

[dspel79082]

Hi Smatterchu, since you already have the list in order you can use the same principal as you used for your pivot table yesterday. With your list in order, just assign ascending numbers in the column next to it. Do a vlookup in a new column with your source data and sort by that column.

Custom List

april	1
aug	2
feb	3
jan	4
jul	5
jun	6
mar	7
may	8

<tbody>
</tbody>

Source

april	1
aug	2
aug	2
jun	6
may	8
jul	5
jun	6
feb	3
may	8

<tbody>
</tbody>

 

[smatterchu]

I think you've done it again -- thanks!! I have figured out how to match the sort and rank the items in the new columnn. At this point, I'm just hoping I can figure out how to affect the sort in the pivot table.

Thanks so much -- TL