How to quickly sort IP address from low to high in Excel?

In general, we use the Sort function to sort string in Excel. But if there are some IP addresses needed to sort, the sorting order may be wrong by using the Sort function directly as below screenshot shown. Now I have some ways to sort the IP addresses quickly and correctly in Excel.

Wrong Sort by Sort function

Correct Sort

Sort IP address by formula

Sort IP address by VBA

Sort IP address by Text to Columns

Sort IP address by formula

Use a formula to fill the IP address then sort.

1. Select a cell adjacent to the IP address and type this formula

=TEXT(LEFT(A1,FIND(".",A1,1)-1),"000") & "." & TEXT(MID(A1,FIND( ".",A1,1)+1,FIND(".",A1,FIND(".",A1,1)+1)-FIND(".",A1,1)-1),"000") & "." & TEXT(MID(A1,FIND(".",A1,FIND(".",A1,1)+1)+1,FIND(".",A1, FIND(".",A1,FIND(".",A1,1)+1)+1)-FIND(".",A1,FIND(".",A1,1)+1)-1), "000") & "." & TEXT(RIGHT(A1,LEN(A1)-FIND(".",A1,FIND(".",A1,FIND( ".",A1,1)+1)+1)),"000")

press Enter key, and drag fill handle over cells to apply this formula.

2. Copy the formula results and paste them as value in the next column. See screenshot:

3. keep the pasted value selected, and click Data > Sort A to Z.

4. In the Sort Waring dialog, keep Expand the selection checked.

5. click Sort. Now the IP addresses have been sorted from low to high.

You can remove the helper columns.

Sort IP address by VBA

1. Press Alt + F11 keys to enable the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications window.

2. Click Insert > Module, copy and paste the code to the blank script.

VBA: Fill IP address

Sub FormatIP()
'UpdatbyExtendoffice20171215
    Dim xReg As New RegExp
    Dim xMatches As MatchCollection
    Dim xMatch As Match
    Dim xRg As Range
    Dim xCell As Range
    Dim I As Long
    Dim xArr() As String
    On Error Resume Next
    Set xRg = Application.InputBox("Select cells:", "KuTools For Excel", Selection.Address, , , , , 8)
    If xRg Is Nothing Then Exit Sub
    With xReg
        .Global = True
        .Pattern = "\d{1,3}\.+\d{1,3}\.+\d{1,3}\.+\d{1,3}"
        For Each xCell In xRg
            Set xMatches = .Execute(xCell.Value)
            If xMatches.Count = 0 Then GoTo xBreak
            For Each xMatch In xMatches
                xArr = Split(xMatch, ".")
                For I = 0 To UBound(xArr)
                    xArr(I) = Right("000" & xArr(I), 3)
                    If I <> UBound(xArr) Then
                        xArr(I) = xArr(I) & "."
                    End If
                Next
            Next
            xCell.Value = Join(xArr, "")
xBreak:
        Next
    End With
End Sub

3. Then click Tools > Reference, and check Microsoft VBScript Regular Expressions 5.5 in the popping dialog.

4. Click OK and press F5 key, a dialog pops out to remind you to select a range to work.

5. Click OK. Then the IP addresses have been filled with zero.

6. Select the IP addresses and click Data > Sort A to Z to sort them.

Sort IP address by Text to Columns

Actually, the Text to Columns feature can do you a favor in Excel too.

1. Select the cells you use, and click Data > Text to Columns. See screenshot:

2. In the Convert Text to Columns Wizard dialog, do as below:

Check Delimited, and click Next;

Check Other and type . into the textbox, and click Next;

Select a cell next to the IP address to place the result. Click Finish.

3. The select all cells containing the IP addresses and the split cells, and click Data > Sort.

4. In the Sort dialog, clicking Add level to sort data from column B to E (the split cells). See screenshot:

5. Click OK. Now the columns have been sorted.