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Thread ID: 64483 2005-12-16 07:45:00 Excel 2000 sort problem jupiter1 (2578) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
413185 2005-12-16 07:45:00 When I sort colums of numbers in excel I get :-
1 followed by 10, 11, etc.
then 2 followed by 20, 21, etc.
and so on.

How can I stop this without entering preceeding zeros.
I can't seem to find anything in the help files.
cheers,
jupiter1 (2578)
413186 2005-12-16 08:41:00 Really? I just tried it - I clicked Sort off the menu choose the column I wanted, ascending and it went normal 1,2,3,10,11 etc. pctek (84)
413187 2005-12-16 09:07:00 This is happening because the "numbers" are formatted as "text", possibly because they were imported or copied from a document.

You need to convert them to real numbers, sometimes just formatting the cell is not enough.

Put the number 1 in a spare cell.
select that cell, edit - copy

Then select the row of "numbers" that are in "text" format, edit - paste special - select values - multiply - OK

That will convert the "text" to numbers, it should now sort.
godfather (25)
413188 2005-12-17 07:57:00 Yo, thanks GODFATHER, that worked.
for some reason PCTEK's doesn't.
Might try a re-install !
Anyway I'm fixed for now, many thanks to you both.
Phil.
jupiter1 (2578)
413189 2005-12-17 09:20:00 That's because pctek's sort column wasn't in text mode, as yours was.

A reinstall is not required, if you sort on a text field it does an alpha sort, which was the result you were getting.
godfather (25)
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