Why does Excel not sorting my data correctly?

The most common reason for data not sorting correctly is due to the leading space ahead of the text. Many people using encounter this problem. The text with leading space is sorted at the top in ascending and at the bottom in descending order sort. Try correcting this, and it will work.

How do I sort in Excel and keep formulas?

Tip: If there are several references in one cell, you need to change the references one by one by selecting and press F4 key in the formula bar. Then change the references in other formula cells to absolute one by one. Now the formulas are kept while sorting.

How do I fix sorting problems in Excel?

Problems with Sorting Excel Data

Select one cell in the column you want to sort.
Press Ctrl + A, to select the entire region.
Check the selected area, to make sure that all the data is included.
If all the data was not selected, fix any blank columns or rows, and try again.

How do I enable sort and filter in Excel?

Click any cell in the range or table. On the HOME tab, click Sort & Filter, and click Filter. Click a drop-down arrow at the top of one of the columns to display its filter options.

How do you sort columns in Excel without mixing data?

General Sort

Click into any cell in the COLUMN you want to sort by within your list. (DO NOT highlight that column as this will sort that column only and leave the rest of your data where it is.)
Click on the DATA tab.
Click on either the Sort Ascending or Sort Descending. button.

How do you sort data in Excel without messing up formulas?

Click on the Data Tab on Menu Bar, and further click on Sort under Sort & Filter group. Sort dialog box opens up. Select the first column of priority which needs to be sorted under Column, in the Sort dialog box. Under Sort On List, select the type of sort that needs to be applied.

How do you sort using formulas?

Excel SORT Function

array – Range or array to sort.
sort_index – [optional] Column index to use for sorting. Default is 1.
sort_order – [optional] 1 = Ascending, -1 = Descending. Default is ascending order.
by_col – [optional] TRUE = sort by column. FALSE = sort by row. Default is FALSE.

Can you sort horizontally in Excel?

Step 1: Select the range that you will sort columns horizontally. In this case, select the B1:F8. Step 2: Click the biggest Sort button in Sort & Filter group under Data tab.

How do you reset Sort in Excel?

Go to the Data ribbon and click the Clear icon in the Sort & Filter group. Go to the Home ribbon, click the arrow below the Sort & Filter icon in the Editing group and choose Clear.

How do you refresh a Sort in Excel?

To reapply a filter or sort, on the Home tab, in the Editing group, click Sort & Filter, and then click Reapply.

How do you link columns in Excel so they will stay together during sort?

To do this, use Excel’s Freeze Panes function. If you want to freeze just one row, one column or both, click the View tab, then Freeze Panes. Click either Freeze First Column or Freeze First Row to freeze the appropriate section of your data. If you want to freeze both a row and a column, use both options.

What to do when Excel does not sort data?

If it looks like the data did not sort properly, refer to the following list of possible solutions: Make sure no hidden rows or columns exist. Use a single row for headers. If you need a multiline header, either wrap the text in the cell or use Alt+Enter to force line breaks in the cell.

How does sorting in Excel affect the formula?

A sort does not move the row contents, it copies them. The formula may (or may not depending on the abs/relative references) use new data, just as a copied formula does. My point is that if the formula can be copied from 1 row to another and the effects don’t change, the sorting will not affect the formula results.

Is there a way to sort by column in Excel?

To solve this problem, convert the entire column to text. If you’re sorting by a column containing a formula, Excel will recalculate the column after the sort. If the values change after the recalculation, such as with RAND, it may appear that the sort did not work properly, but it did.

Why is my Excel spreadsheet sorting in ascending order?

The text with leading space is sorted at the top in ascending and at the bottom in descending order sort. Try correcting this, and it will work. This just happened to me – sometimes when you cut and paste information there are additional blank rows in the data and when you sort it will only sort to the blank rows.

Why does Excel not sorting my data correctly? The most common reason for data not sorting correctly is due to the leading space ahead of the text. Many people using encounter this problem. The text with leading space is sorted at the top in ascending and at the bottom in descending order sort. Try correcting…