In the first free column, enter this formula:
=IF(ISERROR(OR(SEARCH("[",A1),SEARCH("]",A1))),A1,MID(A1,SEARCH("[",A1)+1,SEARCH("]",A1)-2))

This example assumes your list of names begins in A1. Adjust that reference
accordingly. Copy the formula down through all the rows of data. Select all
the data, then sort by the new field.

Hope this helps,

Hutch

"Anita Stuever" wrote:

I want to hide a single character within cells/formula bar, specifically the
opening bracket character: [
Reason: I have many tables, each with a column of names that need to be
alphabetized. Many of the names are in brackets [Like This], and need to stay
that way. In Word, I can globally hide the opening brackets, run my sort,
then un-hide the opening brackets. That's necessary to prevent a resulting
alphabetized list of bracketed names followed by an alphabetized list of
unbracketed names. I need them alphabetized, ignoring the brackets. I don't
want to convert the files to Word because there are good reasons I need them
in Excel (mostly automatic date formatting, which I don't think I can do in
Word).
I am *not* a power user of Excel. I can find info about hiding rows, columns
or worksheets, but nothing about hiding individual characters. Can I do that?
Or is there another way to accomplish what I am trying to do--basically
ignore the [ in sorting a column?