How to sort rows to put the blank cells on top in Excel?

If you have a list of data which is populated with some blank cells, now, you need to sort all the empty cells on top of the data. When you apply the Sort feature in Excel, both the Sort Smallest to Largest and Sort Largest to Smallest functions will sort the blank cells at the bottom of the records. In this case, the following tutorial will talk about how to sort rows and put the blank cells on top in Excel.

Sort rows to put the blank cells on top by sorting colored cells
Easily sort rows to put the blank cells on top with Kutools for Excel
Sort rows to put the blank cells on top with a helper column
Sort rows to put the blank cells on top with VBA code

Sort rows to put the blank cells on top by sorting colored cells

In Excel, you can sort data by background color, so here, you can fill the blank cells with a specific color, and then sort them by color. Please do with the following steps:

1. Select your list of data, and press Ctrl + G to open the Go To dialog, then click Special button, see screenshot:

2. In the popped Go To Special dialog box, check Blanks option, and then click OK.

3. And all the empty cells have been selected, now you can fill them with a color by clicking Home > Fill Color and selecting a color you want as following screenshot shown:

4. Then you can sort the list by filling color, please select your values and click Data > Sort, in the popped Sort dialog, select the column that you want to sort, and choose Cell Color from the Sort On drop down list, then click the color of the blank cells, finally, choose On Top option. See screenshot:

5. After finishing the settings, click OK, all the colored blank cells have been sorted first, then you can remove the color after sorting. See screenshots:

Easily sort rows to put the blank cells on top with Kutools for Excel

The Advanced Sort utility of Kutools for Excel can help you easily sort rows and put the blank cells on top in Excel. Please do as follows.

1. Select the range you want to sort and put the blank cells on top, and then click Kutools Plus > Sort > Advanced Sort. 

2. In the Advanced Sort dialog box, select your sorting condition, and then check the Blank cells in front box, and finally click the OK button. See screenshot:

Then the selected range is sorted and all blank cells are put on top immediately as the below screenshot shown. 

Sort rows to put the blank cells on top with a helper column

To sort the blank cells at the top of your data list, you can use a formula to identify the blanks, and then apply the Sort function.

1. In a blank cell which next to the data, cell B1, for instance, type this formula =A1="",see screenshot:

2. Then drag the fill handle over to the cells that you want to contain this formula, and all the blank cells displayed as TRUE, and others as False, see screenshot:

3. Then click Data > Sort Largest to Smallest, and a Sort Warning dialog will pop up, then check Expand the selection, see screenshots:

4. And then click OK, all the blank cells have been sorted on the top of the values.

5. At last, you can delete the values in helper column B as your need.

Sort rows to put the blank cells on top with VBA code

Apply the following VBA code, you can quickly sort the blank cells on top of the data.

1. Hold down the ALT + F11 keys, and it opens the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications window.

2. Click Insert > Module, and paste the following code in the Module Window.

VBA code: Sort the blank cells on top of the data

Sub SortBlankOnTop()
'Update 20140318
On Error Resume Next
Dim WorkRng As Range
Dim xMin As Double
xTitleId = "KutoolsforExcel"
Set WorkRng = Application.Selection
Set WorkRng = Application.InputBox("Range", xTitleId, WorkRng.Address, Type:=8)
xMin = Application.WorksheetFunction.Small(WorkRng, 1) - 1
WorkRng.SpecialCells(xlCellTypeBlanks) = xMin
WorkRng.Sort , Key1:=Cells(WorkRng.Row, WorkRng.Column), Order1:=xlAscending, Header:=xlNo, OrderCustom:=1, MatchCase:=False, Orientation:=xlTopToBottom, DataOption1:=xlSortNormal
WorkRng.Replace What:=xMin, Replacement:="", LookAt:=xlWhole
End Sub

3. Then press F5 key to run this code, in the popped dialog, select the data range that you want to sort, see screenshot:

4. And then click OK, the empty cells have been sorted on top.

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