Hi Micks,
When you sort by columns you must select the columns that are to stay
together, this usually means that you would select all cells on the workbook
using Ctrl+A (except in Excel 2003).

More information on sorting on my page
http://www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/excel/sorting.htm

You probably have a single cell selection to start with so Excel expands
that to the current region (Ctrl+Shift+*) which stops where you have
an empty column or an empty row.

BTW, you probably added the phone number at the end after an empty column.
I find for a name and address list it is easiest to read if you put the phone number
immediately the left of the name, and the address to the right of the name then
they are both close to the name.

Note: To ensure that you select all cells In Excel 2003 you must use Ctrl+Shift+SpaceBar
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HTH,
David McRitchie, Microsoft MVP - Excel [site changed Nov. 2001]
My Excel Pages: http://www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/excel/excel.htm
Search Page: http://www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/excel/search.htm

"micks" wrote in message
all is fine except for the detail sheet where i have added phone
numbers,address etc to rows which have been filled by =INDEX('History
records'!$C:$C,) and when i sort by my new active/inactive column the
names etc change but the details stay where i have entered them
is there any way to keep the rows together in the detail sheet

hope this is clear
any help appreciated

cheers
micks


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