I am trying to sort only the left 6 characters of a column. I could not find
where I could select and sort only the first 6 characters so I created
another column 'B' and used the B1=LEFT(A1,6). I used the formula box to
verify format and the result was correct, but when I hit enter only ths
function showed in the cell B1. What am I doing wrong? It's driving me
crazy!

It sounds like you have Formula Display turned on...

From the Excel Main Menu:
<tools<options<view tab
UNcheck: Formulas

or...for the keyboard shortcut...
Ctrl+~......The tilde "~" is the key above the Tab key.

Does that help?
--------------------------

Regards,

Ron (XL2003, Win XP)
Microsoft MVP (Excel)
"Beverly" wrote in message
...
I am trying to sort only the left 6 characters of a column. I could not
find
where I could select and sort only the first 6 characters so I created
another column 'B' and used the B1=LEFT(A1,6). I used the formula box to
verify format and the result was correct, but when I hit enter only ths
function showed in the cell B1. What am I doing wrong? It's driving me
crazy!

Make sure B1 isn't formatted as text, change it to general and re-enter the
formula (you need to re-enter the formula)


--

Regards,

Peo Sjoblom






--

Regards,

Peo Sjoblom





"Beverly" wrote in message
...
I am trying to sort only the left 6 characters of a column. I could not
find
where I could select and sort only the first 6 characters so I created
another column 'B' and used the B1=LEFT(A1,6). I used the formula box to
verify format and the result was correct, but when I hit enter only ths
function showed in the cell B1. What am I doing wrong? It's driving me
crazy!

First make sure that calculation is turned on
Tools, Options, Calculation (tab), calculation: automatic
Next use the formula toggle switch Ctrl+` (accent grave)
which is to the left of the "1" on the number row, even on
keyboards that have some other character there.
(same as Tools, Options, View (tab), uncheck Formulas (under Window options)
or in Excel 2007 , click, click, click, click, click, click, click, ..., click )

--
HTH,
David McRitchie, Microsoft MVP -- Excel
My Excel Pages: http://www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/excel/excel.htm


"Beverly" wrote in message ...
I am trying to sort only the left 6 characters of a column. I could not find
where I could select and sort only the first 6 characters so I created
another column 'B' and used the B1=LEFT(A1,6). I used the formula box to
verify format and the result was correct, but when I hit enter only ths
function showed in the cell B1. What am I doing wrong? It's driving me
crazy!

Ron,

Thanks for your reply. I am using Excel 2007 and cannot find the area I
need to be in.

Beverly

"Ron Coderre" wrote:

It sounds like you have Formula Display turned on...

From the Excel Main Menu:
<tools<options<view tab
UNcheck: Formulas

or...for the keyboard shortcut...
Ctrl+~......The tilde "~" is the key above the Tab key.

Does that help?
--------------------------

Regards,

Ron (XL2003, Win XP)
Microsoft MVP (Excel)
"Beverly" wrote in message
...
I am trying to sort only the left 6 characters of a column. I could not
find
where I could select and sort only the first 6 characters so I created
another column 'B' and used the B1=LEFT(A1,6). I used the formula box to
verify format and the result was correct, but when I hit enter only ths
function showed in the cell B1. What am I doing wrong? It's driving me
crazy!