Not sorting as expected

  • Thread starter Thread starter Robbie
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Robbie

I have a database some 10 columns wide and 1200 rows deep. When I sort by
one particular column it sorts BLANKS before text meaning that the data
appears at the bottom of the database although still in alphabetical order.

I have the formatting set to GENERAL for the whole column and do want the
blank cells. None of the other columns do this. I am totally perplexed as I
thought Excel sorted blanks nearer the end of it's priority.

I have tried formatting the column to TEXT and even NUMBER also but it still
makes the data appear at the bottom of the table. This doesn't make any
sense to me...HELP,

Thanks for any help in advance.

Robbie
 
Excel always sorts blanks at the end. If blanks are sorted before text
, then the cell values may not actually be blank but may contain spaces
which is regarded as text by Excel and sorted first. To overcome this,
select the empty cells and press blank cells.
To make sure the cells are blanks, press CTRL+G ->Special->Blanks and
give OK. If your cells are really blank then they would be
automatically selected.

For more on finding cells that contain specific values, visit this post
http://xlmaster.blogspot.com/2006/08/edit-menu.thml
 
Excel always sorts blanks at the end. If blanks are sorted before text
, then the cell values may not actually be blank but may contain spaces
which is regarded as text by Excel and sorted first. To overcome this,
select the empty cells and press blank cells.
To make sure the cells are blanks, press CTRL+G ->Special->Blanks and
give OK. If your cells are really blank then they would be
automatically selected.

For more on finding cells that contain specific values, visit this post
http://xlmaster.blogspot.com/2006/08/edit-menu.html

- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -
 
Mr Cools, THANK YOU for your reply. I thought I knew a little about
Excel.....how wrong.

Can you tell me where I may press "BLANK CELLS"

Also where SPECIAL-> BLANKS is located.

Thank you again,

Robbie
 
Robbie said:
.. Can you tell me where I may press "BLANK CELLS"
Also where SPECIAL-> BLANKS is located.
Click to expand...

Select the range, then press F5 (or press CTRL+G, as mentioned by Mr Cools
earlier). This brings up the "Go To" dialog box. In the dialog: Press
"Special" button > Check "Blanks" > press OK. This will select only the blank
cells (if any) within the range.

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