If you select the wrong rows and columns or less than the full cell range that contains the information you want to sort, Microsoft Excel can’t arrange your data the way you want to view it. With a partial range of cells selected, only the selection sorts.
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Why is Excel not allowing me to sort?
The most common reason why the Sort and Filter icon is grayed out in Excel is because multiple sheets are selected.To ensure that you have only one active sheet in order to enable Soft and Filter icon, right click on the sheets and click on Ungroup Sheets. The Sort and Filter icon will now become active.
How do I enable sort in Excel?
Sorting levels
- Select a cell in the column you want to sort by.
- Click the Data tab, then select the Sort command.
- The Sort dialog box will appear.
- Click Add Level to add another column to sort by.
- Select the next column you want to sort by, then click OK.
- The worksheet will be sorted according to the selected order.
How do I enable sort and filter in Excel?
Select a cell in the column you want to sort (a column with numbers). Click the Sort & Filter command in the Editing group on the Home tab. Select From Smallest to Largest. Now the information is organized from the smallest to largest amount.
Why is sort grayed out in Excel?
Multiple sheets are selected the most likely reason why the Sort and Filter icon is grayed out. Another reason for the Sort and Filter icon to be disabled is because the Sheet is protected. To protect a sheet, go to Review Tab and click on Unprotect Sheet.
Why is Excel not sorting all columns?
Make sure that the headings are only present in the first column. Select the complete table region only. Home tab -> Format Table As -> Choose any of the options and check the heading available when prompted. Try sorting it either ways and it should work for all columns.
How do I unlock a filter in Excel?
You can also press Ctrl+Shift+F or Ctrl+1. In the Format Cells popup, in the Protection tab, uncheck the Locked box and then click OK. This unlocks all the cells on the worksheet when you protect the worksheet.
How do I sort in Excel without mixing data?
Select a cell or range of cells in the column which needs to be sorted. 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.
How do I sort Excel columns separately?
If you want to sort the table columns independently from each other, click on the Arrange All button in the ribbon toolbar tab Variables. After clicking, the Arrange_All function appears in the sidebar.
How do you reset sort in Excel?
Here are the steps to create the index column:
- Type a 1 in a blank column to the right of the data range/table.
- Double-click the fill handle to fill the number down.
- Select Series from the Auto Fill Options menu to create a sequential list of numbers 1,2,3,…
Why is filter greyed out in Excel?
A more obscure reason is that the spreadsheet is in sharing mode. When this is true then for some reason the filter by color is not useable. To check if you workbook is shared you can go to the REVIEW tab and click on the SHARE WORKBOOK button.Untick it to switch it off and the filter by colour should reappear.
How do you fix a filter problem in Excel?
On the Home tab, in the Editing group, click Sort & Filter, and then click Clear to clear the filter. Some data in this workbook is filtered by a cell color. Rows that are hidden by the filter will remain hidden, but the filter itself will not display correctly in earlier versions of Excel.
How do I turn off filter mode in Excel?
If you want to completely remove filters, go to the Data tab and click the Filter button, or use the keyboard shortcut Alt+D+F+F.
Why does my Excel filter not include all rows?
Unmerge any merged cells or so that each row and column has it’s own individual content. If your column headings are merged, when you filter you may not be able to select items from one of the merged columns. If you have merged rows, filtering will not pick up all of the merged rows.
Why is my excel not sorting largest to smallest?
Excel number sort order problems
The reason this happens is because Excel has decided that the ‘numbers’ are actually text and so it is sorting the ‘text‘. So in much the same way that words sort based on there letters, the numbers sort on the digits instead of the value.
How do I sort all sheets in Excel workbook?
Follow these steps:
- Select the worksheets you want to sort.
- Click on “Sort Sheets” on the Professor Excel ribbon.
- Fine-tune the options. For example sort all worksheets or just the selected worksheets. Or group them by tab color. Press “Start”.
How do I make an Excel spreadsheet alphabetical order?
How to alphabetize columns in Excel
- Find the “Data” tab at the top of your spreadsheet.
- You can sort data by any column.
- Select how you’d like to alphabetize.
- Your data will be reorganized by column.
- Click “Options…”
- Switch to alphabetizing from left to right.
- Provide instructions to order data by row.
How do I sort excel and keep rows together?
2. In the Sort Warning window, select Expand the selection, and click Sort. Along with Column G, the rest of the columns will also be sorted, so all rows are kept together. This technique works for any sort, including sorting by date or sorting alphabetically.
How do you sort columns in sheets without mixing data?
Click Data and select Sort range from the drop-down menu. The Sorting dialog box appears. Select the desired column you want to sort by. Select ascending or descending.
How do I sort all rows and columns in Excel?
You can use these steps to sort multiple rows or columns in Excel:
- Highlight the data items you want to sort.
- Open the Data menu from the top of the program.
- Enter the sorting window.
- Add another column or row to the sorting window.
- Choose “Custom Sort” in the sorting window.
- Confirm by hitting “OK”
What is difference between sorting and filtering?
Essentially, sorting and filtering are tools that let you organize your data. When you sort data, you are putting it in order. Filtering data lets you hide unimportant data and focus only on the data you’re interested in.