The single most useful thing a spreadsheet does is keep a list in order. Once your contacts are in columns, you can alphabetise them, pull out everyone in one town, or print just the people you need — none of which a notebook will ever do.
Set up the columns
In a blank workbook, type these headings across row 1: First name, Last name, Phone, Email, Town, Group.
Separate first and last names so you can alphabetise by surname later — the most common thing people wish they had done.
Fill in a few people, pressing Tab to move across and Enter to drop to the start of the next row.
Do five to begin with. It is much easier to spot a layout problem before you have typed sixty.
In the Group column, type a short word like Family, Work or Choir.
This one column is what lets you later show only one circle of people at a time.
Turn it into a proper table
Click any cell in your list, then on the Home tab choose Format as Table and pick a simple style. Make sure 'My table has headers' is ticked.
A table gives every heading a little filter arrow and stripes the rows, so your eye never slips a line.
Click View then Freeze Panes then Freeze Top Row.
Now the headings stay on screen as you scroll, so column five is never a mystery.
Sort and filter it
Click the arrow beside Last name and choose Sort A to Z.
The whole row travels with the name — phone numbers do not get left behind. That is why headings and a table matter.
Click the arrow beside Group, untick Select All, tick just Family, and click OK.
Filtering hides rows temporarily. Nothing is deleted, and clearing the filter brings everyone back.
To clear it, click the same arrow and choose Clear Filter.
Worth doing on purpose once so a filtered list never worries you again.
Print it so it fits
Press Ctrl+P to open Print, then look at the preview on the right.
The preview is the truth. Fix things here rather than after wasting paper.
Under Scaling, choose Fit All Columns on One Page.
This stops the last column printing lonely on a second sheet.
Choose Landscape orientation if the list is wide.
Wide lists want a wide page — it is the quickest fix there is.
Check yourself
If you can say yes to each of these, you have finished.
- Every person is on their own row, with one kind of detail per column.
- My headings stay visible when I scroll.
- I can alphabetise by surname and put it back again.
- I can show only one group, then clear the filter.