How To Sort Birthdays By Month In Excel

Sorting birthdays by month in Excel can streamline your data management and ensure you never miss an important date. Excel offers various functions and tools to organize and manipulate date fields effectively.

In this guide, we'll walk through the step-by-step process to sort birthdays by month. Additionally, we will explore why using Sourcetable might provide a more straightforward solution for this task than Excel.

Sorting Birthdays by Month in Excel

Using SORTBY Function

To sort birthdays by month and day in Excel 365, apply the SORTBY function alongside the TEXT function. Create a helper column to convert each birthday's month and day to text format, then sort using this column. This method maintains the original data integrity and does not require consideration of the year. Note that SORTBY is not available in older Excel versions.

Grouping Birthdays in Older Excel Versions

In versions of Excel without the SORTBY function, you can still sort birthdays by month. Add a helper column and use the MONTH function to extract the month from each date. Then, use Excel's built-in sort options to re-arrange the table by this helper column, keeping rows intact. Alternatively, employ a custom list to sort data by month.

Sorting Using Excel's Default Features

Excel's default sort feature sorts data by date, considering the year. To sort by month regardless of the year, use a helper column with the MONTH function. After adding this column, sort your data using the Data-Sort menu option. This maintains row integrity and ensures accurate sorting by month.

Sorting Data with Text Strings

If your data includes dates within text strings, Excel's sort feature cannot directly sort by date. In such cases, a helper column to parse out the date information will be necessary for sorting by month.

Excel vs. Sourcetable: Streamlined Data Management and AI Integration

Excel, a long-standing leader in spreadsheet software, is widely used for data analysis and visualization. However, Sourcetable emerges as a potent alternative, focusing on centralized data collation from multiple sources. This modern platform caters to the growing need for integrated data management within a user-friendly spreadsheet interface.

Sourcetable stands out with its AI copilot feature, a distinctive addition not found in Excel. This AI assistant aids users in constructing complex formulas, generating templates, and streamlining workflows, all through an intuitive chat interface. It elevates the user experience by simplifying traditionally technical tasks.

While Excel requires manual setup for data integration, Sourcetable automates this process, saving time and reducing errors. The ease of connecting to various data sources with Sourcetable makes it a strong contender for businesses seeking efficiency in data consolidation and analysis.

Choosing between Excel and Sourcetable depends on the specific needs of the user. Excel’s robust functionality suits a broad range of applications, but for those needing advanced data integration and AI-powered assistance, Sourcetable offers a compelling, innovative solution.