HOW TO: Custom Sort or Prevent Auto Sort in PivotTable in Excel 2000

This step-by-step article describes how to custom sort a PivotTable or keep a PivotTable from being automatically sorted.

In Microsoft Excel, data in a PivotTable is automatically sorted. There are no options available to turn this automatic sorting off or to perform a custom sort on your PivotTable data.

To prevent a PivotTable from being sorted, you can create a custom list using the unsorted source data on the worksheet. To custom sort a PivotTable, you can first sort the source data as the way you want it on the worksheet, and then create a custom list using the sorted source data.

A PivotTable first uses a custom list to sort if possible. If an appropriate custom list is not available, then the PivotTable uses default sorting.

If there is a custom list that exactly matches the source data, then the PivotTable is sorted using the custom list. This may make the PivotTable appear to be unsorted.

Note that a custom list is only used when the PivotTable is created. If you use a new custom list for sorting, you must re-create the pivot table (you cannot just refresh the PivotTable).

The following examples demonstrate how to use a custom list to prevent a PivotTable from sorting and how to custom sort the data in your PivotTable.

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Create the PivotTable

1. To create a PivotTable in this example, enter the following on a worksheet in a new workbook:

      A1: MyNoSortField   B1: MyValues
      A2: NoSort4         B2: 5
      A3: NoSort2         B3: 3
      A4: NoSort1         B4: 5
      A5: NoSort3         B5: 6
      A6: NoSort4         B6: 4
      A7: NoSort3         B7: 3
      A8: NoSort2         B8: 5
      A9: NoSort3         B9: 7
      A10: NoSort1        B10: 4
   						

2. On the Data menu, click PivotTable and PivotChart Report. In the PivotTable and PivotChart Wizard, step 1, click Next. In Step 2 of the wizard, type A1:B10, and then click Next.
3. In step 3 of the wizard, click Layout. Drag the MyNoSort field to the Column area, drag the MyValues field to the Data area, and then click OK.
4. In the PivotTable and PivotChart Wizard-Step 3 of 3 dialog box, click Existing worksheet, type E1, and then click Finish.
   
   Note the order of the values in the PivotTable.

Create the Custom List

To create a custom list to affect the way your PivotTable data is sorted, first make sure that the cells from which you are creating the list contain text, not formulas or numeric values. If the cells contain formulas, you must first copy the formulas, and then paste the values to another location to create text; if the cells contain numeric values, you will not be able to create a custom list, even if you format the values as text.

1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Custom Lists tab.
2. In the Import list from cells box, type A2:A10 (the range of cells that contain your custom list), click Import, and then click OK.
3. Repeat these steps for each custom list. Then, create your PivotTable.

Use the Custom List

To use this custom list to sort your PivotTable, you must delete the PivotTable created earlier, and then create the PivotTable again. To create the PivotTable, follow the steps in the Create the PivotTable section of this article.

NOTES: If you add items to the source data after you create the PivotTable, and you refresh the PivotTable, the new items are only sorted correctly if they are included in the original custom list. Items that are not included in the original custom list are sorted after the items that are included in the original custom list.

After you create a PivotTable using a custom list, the PivotTable no longer uses the custom list for refreshing the data. Because of this behavior, if you change the custom list that you used to create the PivotTable, you must delete the PivotTable, and create a new PivotTable. Additionally, you can delete the original custom list and the PivotTable will still sort according to the original custom list.

Visual Basic Code Example

The following example shows how to use a Visual Basic macro to make a PivotTable field appear not to sort:

1. In a new module sheet, type the following code:

      Sub NewPivotNoSort()
         ' Create temporary custom list using PivotTable data
         Application.AddCustomList Array("A2:A10")
         ' Create PivotTable
         ActiveSheet.PivotTableWizard
         ActiveSheet.PivotTables(1).AddFields "MyNoSortField"
         ActiveSheet.PivotTables(1).PivotFields("MyValues").Orientation _
           = xlDataField
         ' Delete custom list
         Application.DeleteCustomList Application.CustomListCount
      End Sub
   					

2. On a worksheet in the same workbook, enter the following:

      A1: MyNoSortField   B1: MyValues
      A2: NoSort4         B2: 5
      A3: NoSort2         B3: 3
      A4: NoSort1         B4: 5
      A5: NoSort3         B5: 6
      A6: NoSort4         B6: 4
      A7: NoSort3         B7: 3
      A8: NoSort2         B8: 5
      A9: NoSort3         B9: 7
      A10: NoSort1        B10: 4
   					

3. To run the macro, follow these steps:
   1. Select any cell in the range A1:B10 on the worksheet that contains the data that you entered above.
   2. On the Tools menu, click Macro.
   3. In the Macro Name/Reference list, click NewPivotNoSort, and then click Run.
   In the resulting PivotTable, the MyNoSortField data appears unsorted.