Skip to main content

Kutools for Office — One Suite. Five Tools. Get More Done.

How to sort data but keep blank rows in Excel?

Author Xiaoyang Last modified

When you apply the Sort function in Excel to sort lists of data which include blank rows, the blank rows are sorted at the bottom of the data, normally. But, sometimes, you want the blank rows still be kept at the original place they are. In this article, I will talk about how to sort data but keep the blank rows in Excel.

Sort data but keep blank rows in Excel

arrow blue right bubble Sort data but keep blank rows in Excel

In Excel, the hidden rows are not involved in sorting, so we can hide the blank rows first, and then sort the data. You can finish this job with following steps:

1. Select your data list, and then click Home > Find & Select > Go To Special, see screenshot:

click Home > Find & Select > Go To Special

2. In the Go To Special dialog, select Blanks under Select section, see screenshot:

select Blanks in the dialog box

3. And all the blank cells have been selected, then press Ctrl + 9 keys to hide the blank rows. See screenshots:

all the blank cells are selected arrow right press Ctrl + 9 keys to hide the blank rows

4. And then select your data list, and click Data > Sort, and a Sort dialog will display, then choose the column name that you want to be sorted by, and then select the order you need to sort. See screenshot:

set options in the Sort dialog box

5. Then click OK, and the selection has been sorted by the column you selected as follows:

the selection is sorted by the column you selected

6. After sorting the data as you need, in this step, you can unhide the rows by pressing Shift + Ctrl + 9 keys together to restore the blank rows. And your data has been sorted and the blank rows are kept as well. See screenshots:

press Shift + Ctrl + 9 keys to restore the blank rows arrow right the data is sorted and the blank rows are kept
a screenshot of kutools for excel ai

Unlock Excel Magic with Kutools AI

  • Smart Execution: Perform cell operations, analyze data, and create charts—all driven by simple commands.
  • Custom Formulas: Generate tailored formulas to streamline your workflows.
  • VBA Coding: Write and implement VBA code effortlessly.
  • Formula Interpretation: Understand complex formulas with ease.
  • Text Translation: Break language barriers within your spreadsheets.
Enhance your Excel capabilities with AI-powered tools. Download Now and experience efficiency like never before!

Related articles:

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

How to sort or filter data by strikethrough in Excel?

How to sort data by the most frequent value in Excel?

How to sort email address by domain in Excel?

How to sort rows by odd or even numbers in Excel?

Best Office Productivity Tools

🤖 Kutools AI Aide: Revolutionize data analysis based on: Intelligent Execution   |  Generate Code  |  Create Custom Formulas  |  Analyze Data and Generate Charts  |  Invoke Kutools Functions…
Popular Features: Find, Highlight or Identify Duplicates   |  Delete Blank Rows   |  Combine Columns or Cells without Losing Data   |   Round without Formula ...
Super Lookup: Multiple Criteria VLookup  |   Multiple Value VLookup  |   VLookup Across Multiple Sheets   |   Fuzzy Lookup ....
Advanced Drop-down List: Quickly Create Drop Down List   |  Dependent Drop Down List   |  Multi-select Drop Down List ....
Column Manager: Add a Specific Number of Columns  |  Move Columns  |  Toggle Visibility Status of Hidden Columns  |  Compare Ranges & Columns ...
Featured Features: Grid Focus   |  Design View   |   Big Formula Bar   |  Workbook & Sheet Manager   |  Resource Library (Auto Text)   |  Date Picker   |  Combine Worksheets   |  Encrypt/Decrypt Cells   |  Send Emails by List   |  Super Filter   |   Special Filter (filter bold/italic/strikethrough...) ...
Top 15 Toolsets:  12 Text Tools (Add Text, Remove Characters, ...)   |   50+ Chart Types (Gantt Chart, ...)   |   40+ Practical Formulas (Calculate age based on birthday, ...)   |   19 Insertion Tools (Insert QR Code, Insert Picture from Path, ...)   |   12 Conversion Tools (Numbers to Words, Currency Conversion, ...)   |   7 Merge & Split Tools (Advanced Combine Rows, Split Cells, ...)   |   ... and more
Use Kutools in your preferred language – supports English, Spanish, German, French, Chinese, and 40+ others!

Supercharge Your Excel Skills with Kutools for Excel, and Experience Efficiency Like Never Before. Kutools for Excel Offers Over 300 Advanced Features to Boost Productivity and Save Time.  Click Here to Get The Feature You Need The Most...

Office Tab Brings Tabbed interface to Office, and Make Your Work Much Easier

  • Enable tabbed editing and reading in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, Access, Visio and Project.
  • Open and create multiple documents in new tabs of the same window, rather than in new windows.
  • Increases your productivity by 50%, and reduces hundreds of mouse clicks for you every day!

All Kutools add-ins. One installer

Kutools for Office suite bundles add-ins for Excel, Word, Outlook & PowerPoint plus Office Tab Pro, which is ideal for teams working across Office apps.

Excel Word Outlook Tabs PowerPoint
  • All-in-one suite — Excel, Word, Outlook & PowerPoint add-ins + Office Tab Pro
  • One installer, one license — set up in minutes (MSI-ready)
  • Works better together — streamlined productivity across Office apps
  • 30-day full-featured trial — no registration, no credit card
  • Best value — save vs buying individual add-in