

If the result is not desired, the column might contain values which are not numbers and are treated as text by the software. Note: Check that all the data to be sorted in the specified column contains values that are numerical. The numbers will be sorted in the column of spreadsheet accordingly.

Thus, all the leading spaces need to be removed before sorting data. Remove any leading spaces: In some cases, when data is imported or copied from any another application, the data values might have some leading spaces, which can produce undesirable sorting results, when the operation is applied. To format all the selected data in a particular column as text, press Ctrl+1 simultaneously on the keyboard that will launch the Format Cells dialog, click on the Number tab and then, under Category section, click on General, Number, or Text. If the column that you want to sort contains values that are numerical, you need to change them into their corresponding text, failing to do so, the numbers would be stored as numbers are sorted before the numbers stored as text.

Note: Check that all data in the column to be sorted is stored as text. The text will be sorted in the column of spreadsheet accordingly. Click on the Data tab available in Menu Bar, and perform a quick sort by choosing any one of the options under the Sort & Filter group, depending upon whether you want to sort in ascending or descending order.Select a cell or range of cells in the column which needs to be sorted.The following procedure needs to be performed to sort text in Excel: There might be times when values in cells are textual and need to be sorted accordingly, in order to make the spreadsheet look orderly. The following article discusses the various methods and procedures of sorting data in specified order as well as various criterions that can be applied on the process to increase the orderly efficiency of the spreadsheet. You can also sort using a custom list you create (such as A, C, and B) or by the format of cells which can be done on the basis of cell color, font color, or cell icon. You can sort data by text (A to Z or Z to A), numbers (smallest to largest or largest to smallest), and dates and times (oldest to newest and newest to oldest) in one or more columns. Sorting data in Excel helps the user to understand and visualize data more effectively, facilitates investigation of data, aids the process of searching, organizing and formatting data and ultimately, helps in making efficient decisions. You might want to arrange a list of values alphabetically, compile a list of product values from highest to lowest, or order rows by their corresponding icons or colors. Sorting data is considered to be one of the most essential components of data analysis as it helps in organizing or arranging the data in a specified desirable order and aids the procedure of formatting and visualizing data. By Harshita Srivastava on Januin Advanced Excel Functions and Formulas, Basic Excel Functions and Formulas
