What it does
Uses picker prompt to help expedite sort actions (saved sort preferences, sort worksheets, bulk worksheet sort).

When to use it
When working with tabular data and you want to sort the data, this is an easy way to quickly apply preferred sort criteria.

Why to use it
It’s easier and quicker than using the mouse, combining several clicks into one step, and providing options that extend the native capabilities of Excel.

Default shortcut
Ctrl+Shift+E

Other Details

• Category: Filter and Sort / Sort
• Difficulty: 2/5
• Usage/frequency: 3/5
• Automation factor: 3/5 (estimated 10 seconds saved each time used)
• Type: Shortcut
• Date added: 6/7/2022
• Tags: Sort, picker

Related Macros
[Q] Quick Sort
[H] Sort Horizontal
[W] Sort Worksheets
[B] Sort Ranges
Filter Picker

Note: most of the related filter macros above will be covered in the instructions below.  The picker option code is displayed in the [brackets].

Other Articles
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Prerequisites
Option Q: Select the entire range that should have the sort applied (if the range has AutoFilter or a table applied, it will apply the sorts to that range).
Option H: For the range that should be sorted horizontally, it must have a named range applied that starts with “Sort_Horizontal_Range” as a prefix.  This is so the macro knows what range to sort.  Then just select a cell in the row that you want to sort horizontally on. 
Options W and B: Select the workbook containing the worksheets to be arranged alphabetically (option W) or containing the various ranges that should be sorted with one or more criteria.

Instructions
With cells selected per the prerequisites above, run the Sort Picker macro.  It will present several common actions to run for sorting.  For the action you run most often, you can set your default so you don’t have to enter it (just launch the picker and press Enter).  Note that the default is highlighted when the picker is launched, so to change the action code, there is no need to press the backspace first.  Further instructions for the individual action codes are described below.

• [Q] This will launch the prompt to quickly apply one or more sort levels on the selected range (or range with AutoFilter/table applied) with a quick enter method, as well as apply five favorite sort criteria for commonly applied sorting values.  For quick entry, enter the column letter, an underscore, and A (for ascending) or Z (for descending).  For multiple sort levels, separate them with a comma.  For example, “D_A,E_Z,A_A” would sort column D ascending, then column E descending, then column A ascending.  To save a favorite sort, after that string, add a space and the word “DEFAULT” then a 1/2/3/4/5 for the favorite shortcut number.  For example “D_A,E_Z,A_A DEFAULT1” would save that as favorite sort #1.
• [H] This will display a prompt where you can select whether to sort ascending (“A”) or descending (“Z”).  You can save your preferred sort direction as a default.
• [W] This will prompt you whether to sort all worksheets in the active workbook in either ascending or descending order.  Click the appropriate button to apply the sort direction.
• [B] This is based on a settings sheet and can apply multiple different sort criteria across multiple sheets/named ranges.  See the [Sort Ranges] support page for instructions on how to use it. 

Like most of the picker macros, you can set the default option to apply so you don’t even have to enter the letter/number – just the Enter key.  Just enter your preferred default letter(s), then click the default checkbox, and those letter(s) becomes the new default.