# Sorting data

Sort chart data to control the order in which values appear and improve readability. Use sorting options to reorder data and focus on the most relevant insights.

### Why sorting is important in dashboards

{% hint style="success" %}

### Sorting brings the most important items (highest, lowest, fastest-growing) to the top

* Ordered data enables fast comparisons; differences between items are highlighted.
* Sorting makes it easier to spot extremes, anomalies, or clusters
  {% endhint %}

#### Sorting based on measures

Order chart data by values with measure-based sorting, making it easier to highlight trends, rankings, and top or bottom performers. 

Choose the measure to sort the data on. In this case, the bars are arranged in ascending order based on the selected measure

<figure><img src="/files/fKlSpliMbTLrpBc1Pxx1" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

#### Axis-based sorting

Sort data based on axis categories, enabling comparison across data points. In this example, the order of bars is rendered based on the axis labels.

<figure><img src="/files/vax9uQc511SCdSSFND79" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

#### Variance-based sorting

Select the variance measure from **By** to identify categories with the highest variance.

<figure><img src="/files/k2ZJzOhtTCf4ETkovfVW" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

In breakdown waterfall charts, you can sort breakdown categories by magnitude to clearly highlight the largest positive and negative contributors.

Sort breakdown categories in ascending order:

<figure><img src="/files/ir273QFNrbVVytWt3FrZ" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

Sort breakdown categories in descending order

<figure><img src="/files/J78aTtnAsZ1zTIYjd0bn" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

#### Sorting trellis panels

Use the **Group** tab to arrange trellis panels based on the total measure, variance, or group dimension category values.&#x20;

Trellis panels arranged in alphabetical order of group dimension category:

<figure><img src="/files/5uuxSCtewhgZkzIRoqQo" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

Trellis panels arranged by measure value - in this case, the AC metric.

<figure><img src="/files/ACmhz7aSSut5h4JtCKfX" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>


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