Sorting problem - there's got to be an easier way to...

  • Thread starter Thread starter Joe Kelb
  • Start date Start date
J

Joe Kelb

My manager gave me an old spreadsheet that he wants sorted in
ascending order. The list he wants sorted are part numbers, some of
which are alphanumeric.
It is sorting them as numeric, which is not what he wants. I read the
help file on sorting and it tells me that I need to format
alphanumeric as text. It says, "To format a number as text, click
Cells on the Format menu, click the Number tab, and then click Text in
the Category list, click OK, and then retype the value in the cell."
That's okay, except that this list has hundreds upon hundreds of part
numbers and retyping all of them in seems long-winded.

I tried picking the last row and the first row and then format cells,
but it doesn't seem to do anything. Next, I tried the help files
advice, retyped several of the cells, and resorted. It works, of
course.
My question is: isn't there a way to automatically pick a range of
cells and convert it en masse?

TIA!
 
Hi Joe
1. Highlight the cells you want to 'convert'
2. Goto 'Data - Text to columns'
3. In the third step of the wizard choose 'Text' as format
4. Finish the wizard

HTH
Frank
 
Excellent!

Thank you, Frank.

Hi Joe
1. Highlight the cells you want to 'convert'
2. Goto 'Data - Text to columns'
3. In the third step of the wizard choose 'Text' as format
4. Finish the wizard

HTH
Frank
 
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