Change Sort Order Using the Ribbon

You can change the order of sorting information in a report.

1. From an open report, click the Home tab.
2. Click Sort. The Sort window opens.
   The Sort button is also available from the Design tab when using the layout view.
3. Select the primary field you want to sort by from the Sort Items By drop-down list.
4. To sort by the selected field in ascending order, select Ascending. To sort in descending order, select Descending. For example, to sort a report’s output by date created, with the newest dates at the top of the list, you would sort the output in descending order.
5. To sort menu fields by the sequence of the field’s entries, select Sort by Menu Sequence.
   This option is available only when editing a custom report.

   By default, when sorting information in a report using a menu field, the information is sorted by the menu field’s entries in alphabetic order. For example, sorting a report by the Incidents Severity field with entries of Severe, Mid-Range, and Unimportant in ascending order lists records with Mid-Range, then Severe, and then Unimportant severities.

   However, when editing a custom report and defining the report’s default sort order, you can select the Sort by Menu Sequence check box to sort by the order or the menu field’s entries. Therefore, sorting the Severity field by sequence in ascending order would result in records with Severe, then Mid-Range, and then Unimportant severities. In this example, this sort order would likely be more helpful for those using the report.

6. To sort on additional fields, select the fields to sort on from the Then By drop-down lists.
   When you define multiple sort fields, the records are initially sorted by the first sort field. If any of the records have the same value for the first sort field, those records are then sorted by the subsequent sort fields.
7. To remove all sort options, click Clear All.
8. Click OK.

Results:

The report refreshes using the sort order you defined.