Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Excel in Microsoft 365, and 2021. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Ordering Worksheets Based on a Cell Value.

Ordering Worksheets Based on a Cell Value

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated January 7, 2023)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Excel in Microsoft 365, and 2021


5

Other issues of ExcelTips have provided ways that you can sort the worksheets in your workbook based on the worksheet name. What if you want to sort the worksheets based on a value in a given cell of each worksheet, however? For instance, you may have a series of worksheets that share the same general layout, and you want the worksheets ordered based on the value in cell H7 of each worksheet.

The only way to handle this is with a macro. The macro needs to step through each worksheet in the workbook, and then check the key cell in each subsequent worksheet to see how it compares to the same cell in other worksheets. If the cell value is less than the current worksheet, then the worksheet that contains the lesser value can be moved.

Sub SortWksByCell()
    Dim i As Integer
    Dim j As Integer

    For i = 1 To Worksheets.Count
        For j = i To Worksheets.Count
            If UCase(Worksheets(j).Range("H7")) < _
              UCase(Worksheets(i).Range("H7")) Then
                Worksheets(j).Move Before:=Worksheets(i)
            End If
        Next
    Next
End Sub

Note the use of the Move method, which does the actual movement of the worksheets. The names of the worksheets don't matter, only their positioning based on the value in cell H7 of each worksheet.

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the ExcelTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (12448) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Excel in Microsoft 365, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Ordering Worksheets Based on a Cell Value.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Changing Information in Multiple Documents

If you need to change text in many documents at the same time, Word isn't the best tool to use. Here's some ideas on ways ...

Discover More

Inconsistent Prompting to Save Normal Template Changes

You can configure Word to notify you when it is about to save updates to the Normal template. There may be some ...

Discover More

Highlighting Every Thousandth Character

Not satisfied with the detail provided by the Word Count feature in Word? Perhaps you want to actually know where every ...

Discover More

Professional Development Guidance! Four world-class developers offer start-to-finish guidance for building powerful, robust, and secure applications with Excel. The authors show how to consistently make the right design decisions and make the most of Excel's powerful features. Check out Professional Excel Development today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Identifying the Last Cell Changed in a Worksheet

When someone changes a cell in a worksheet, Excel normally goes along its merry way of keeping everything up to date. It ...

Discover More

Switching Headers in a Frozen Row

Excel allows you to "freeze" rows in your worksheet. What if you want the rows that are frozen to change as you scroll ...

Discover More

Determining the Complexity of a Worksheet

If you have multiple worksheets that each provide different ways to arrive at the same results, you may be wondering how ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 2 + 2?

2023-01-11 12:17:06

J. Woolley

Here's another version of the SortWksByCell macro, but is requires the SORT function in Excel 365 or 2021:

Sub SortWksByCell2()
    Dim i As Integer
    Dim j As Integer
    Dim k As Integer
    Dim V() As Variant 'not String
    k = Worksheets.Count
    ReDim V(1 To k, 1 To 2)
    For i = 1 To k
        V(i, 1) = UCase(Worksheets(i).Range("H7"))
        V(i, 2) = Worksheets(i).Name
    Next i
    V = WorksheetFunction.Sort(V)
    For i = 1 To (k - 1)
        If V(i, 2) <> Worksheets(i).Name Then _
            Worksheets(V(i, 2)).Move Before:=Worksheets(i)
    Next i
End Sub


2023-01-10 10:04:03

J. Woolley

@Philip
The sorting is based on the value of cell H7 in each worksheet. Chart sheets do not have a cell H7.
On the other hand, the Tip mentioned by Ron S. below sorts the Sheets collection, not Worksheets, despite limiting its discussion to worksheets. In that case, all chart sheets and worksheets are sorted by Name. Also, it uses the more efficient For loops described in my comment below.


2023-01-10 00:56:38

Philip

Both the solution proposed in the tip as the solution offered by J. Woolley only work on "worksheets". If your workbook also contains chart sheets, those won't be sorted (as they are not part of the Worksheets collection).

Wouldn't it be better to do this working with Sheets collection rather than Worksheets collection?


2023-01-08 09:48:10

J. Woolley

The Tip's macro implements a Bubble Sort; therefore, these For statements
    For i = 1 To Worksheets.Count
        For j = i To Worksheets.Count
can be replaced by
    Dim k As Integer
    k = Worksheets.Count
    For i = 1 To (k - 1)
        For j = (i + 1) To k
for a more efficient result. The first For skips the last worksheet and the second For skips the first For's worksheet.
Notice Worksheets(i) refers to a worksheet by location, not by Name, and the Name at a given location is likely to change during the sort.


2023-01-07 08:51:44

Ron S

Alphabetizing Worksheet Tabs
https://excelribbon.tips.net/T013440_Alphabetizing_Worksheet_Tabs.html


This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.