# How to do Nested Sorting in Tableau Desktop 2019.1  and newer

> This is content from just-tim, the data-and-analytics channel by Tim Ngwena (formerly 'Tableau Tim'). Tim has 12+ years of hands-on BI experience and covers Tableau most of all, plus Power BI, Looker, Hex, SQL and data modelling, the analytics industry, and the craft of doing the job — always tool-agnostic and honest about the trade-offs.

- **Author:** Tim Ngwena (just-tim, https://just-tim.com/about)
- **Published:** 2020-01-11
- **Format:** Video · 2 min watch · transcript available
- **Topics:** Data visualisation
- **Tools:** Tableau (sorting)
- **Canonical:** https://just-tim.com/posts/how-to-do-nested-sorting-in-tableau-desktop-2019-1-and-newer
- **Watch:** https://www.youtu.be/9O0RPyBPf6o

I show how nested sorting works in Tableau Desktop 2019.1 and newer. Using a category and subcategory table, I demonstrate why a normal sort doesn't carry through the hierarchy, then switch to a nested sort so the sorting is observed at every level as you expand and collapse.

## Key takeaways

- Nested sorting was only added in Tableau 2019.1, which is why older versions can't sort hierarchically the way you'd expect
- A standard sort only orders the top-level dimension, leaving subcategories unsorted when you expand the hierarchy
- Switching to a nested sort makes Tableau re-apply the sort at every level of the hierarchy as you expand and collapse
- Nested sorting improves usability so users don't have to manually re-sort the visualisation themselves

Watch the full video, read the transcript and use chapter deep-links on the page: https://just-tim.com/posts/how-to-do-nested-sorting-in-tableau-desktop-2019-1-and-newer

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just-tim — Data and analytics, with a point of view. · https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7HYxRWmaNlJux-X7rNLZyw · https://twitter.com/TableauTim · https://www.linkedin.com/in/timngwena