I have a little spread shee with a column called "date" that contains dates
in a "*3/14/2001" format. That's what I see when I highlight all its cells
and click "format cells." I'm accustomed to sorting by clicking on the
column header and then the "sort xxx to xxx" icon. Five minutes ago I did
this and was offered "sort oldest to newest" and "sort newest to oldest"
menu items. I don't know exactly what I did after that, but now when I try
to do the same thing I'm only offered "sort A to Z" and "Sort Z to A." This
doesn't work out right, of course. What's going on?

TIA
LAS

Hi LAS,

Sorting dates in Excel is a common task, and it's easy to do once you know how. It sounds like you were on the right track before, but somehow the options for sorting oldest to newest and newest to oldest disappeared. Here's how to get them back:

1. Highlight the column of dates that you want to sort.
2. Click on the "Data" tab in the ribbon at the top of the screen.
3. Click on the "Sort" button in the "Sort & Filter" section.
4. In the "Sort" dialog box that appears, make sure that the "Sort by" dropdown menu is set to the column that contains your dates.
5. In the "Order" dropdown menu, select "Oldest to Newest" or "Newest to Oldest" as desired.
6. Click "OK" to sort your data.

If you still don't see the options for sorting oldest to newest and newest to oldest, it's possible that your Excel settings have been changed. To fix this, you can go to the "File" tab, click on "Options," and then select "Advanced." Look for the "Editing options" section and make sure that the "Enable fill handle and cell drag-and-drop" option is checked. This should restore the missing sort options.

Sorting "A to Z" means to sort in ascending order. As dates increase in value
as time goes on, sorting A to Z would place your dates in oldest to newest
order. Some sorting differences may occur based on whether you have header
rows selected, or how much data you have selected before attempting your sort.
--
Best Regards,

Luke M
*Remember to click "yes" if this post helped you!*


"Laurel" wrote:

I have a little spread shee with a column called "date" that contains dates
in a "*3/14/2001" format. That's what I see when I highlight all its cells
and click "format cells." I'm accustomed to sorting by clicking on the
column header and then the "sort xxx to xxx" icon. Five minutes ago I did
this and was offered "sort oldest to newest" and "sort newest to oldest"
menu items. I don't know exactly what I did after that, but now when I try
to do the same thing I'm only offered "sort A to Z" and "Sort Z to A." This
doesn't work out right, of course. What's going on?

TIA
LAS


.

I'm afraid I must not have made myself clear. I understand that "a to z"
isn't good for sorting dates. My problem is that once, and only once, I saw
"oldest to newest" and "newest to oldest" as sort menu options. But never
again. How can I get the menu options back? I know I saw them, because I
was so pleased that Excel understood that "a to z" wouldn't work for dates.

"Luke M" wrote in message
...
Sorting "A to Z" means to sort in ascending order. As dates increase in
value
as time goes on, sorting A to Z would place your dates in oldest to newest
order. Some sorting differences may occur based on whether you have header
rows selected, or how much data you have selected before attempting your
sort.
--
Best Regards,

Luke M
*Remember to click "yes" if this post helped you!*


"Laurel" wrote:

I have a little spread shee with a column called "date" that contains
dates
in a "*3/14/2001" format. That's what I see when I highlight all its
cells
and click "format cells." I'm accustomed to sorting by clicking on the
column header and then the "sort xxx to xxx" icon. Five minutes ago I
did
this and was offered "sort oldest to newest" and "sort newest to oldest"
menu items. I don't know exactly what I did after that, but now when I
try
to do the same thing I'm only offered "sort A to Z" and "Sort Z to A."
This
doesn't work out right, of course. What's going on?

TIA
LAS


.

If your column of dates are "real" dates Excel will offer the "oldest to
newest" and "newest to oldest".

Have you somehow re-formatted the dates to text?


Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP


On Tue, 19 Jan 2010 19:22:20 -0500, "Laurel" wrote:

I have a little spread shee with a column called "date" that contains dates
in a "*3/14/2001" format. That's what I see when I highlight all its cells
and click "format cells." I'm accustomed to sorting by clicking on the
column header and then the "sort xxx to xxx" icon. Five minutes ago I did
this and was offered "sort oldest to newest" and "sort newest to oldest"
menu items. I don't know exactly what I did after that, but now when I try
to do the same thing I'm only offered "sort A to Z" and "Sort Z to A." This
doesn't work out right, of course. What's going on?

TIA
LAS

"Gord Dibben" <gorddibbATshawDOTca wrote in message
...
If your column of dates are "real" dates Excel will offer the "oldest to
newest" and "newest to oldest".

Have you somehow re-formatted the dates to text?

If I highlight all the date cells (not the header) and right click and click
Format Cells, it highlights Category = Date and Type = *3/14/2001

BUT Aha! With the dates selected, I got the "oldest to newest". Then a
dialogue box asking me if I wanted to expand the selection or not. I did,
and it sorted everything correctly!

I have lived in fear for years because for a long time I didn't realize that
if I didn't click on the header before I sorted but clicked on the "A B C"
column header, it would just sort the column and screw everything up. I
guess I've found an exception to "click on the header."




Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP


On Tue, 19 Jan 2010 19:22:20 -0500, "Laurel" wrote:

I have a little spread shee with a column called "date" that contains
dates
in a "*3/14/2001" format. That's what I see when I highlight all its
cells
and click "format cells." I'm accustomed to sorting by clicking on the
column header and then the "sort xxx to xxx" icon. Five minutes ago I did
this and was offered "sort oldest to newest" and "sort newest to oldest"
menu items. I don't know exactly what I did after that, but now when I
try
to do the same thing I'm only offered "sort A to Z" and "Sort Z to A."
This
doesn't work out right, of course. What's going on?

TIA
LAS

Do not always rely upon Excel to make the correct choice when "expanding the
selection"

If you had a blank column, it would stop at the blank column.

Always select the full range of data to sort.

You can select the entire columns then DataSort.

Select "sort by" column.

If it is the date column Excel will give you the "oldest to newest"

If "sort by" is some non-date column you will not see "oldest to newest"\


Gord

On Wed, 20 Jan 2010 16:20:06 -0500, "Laurel" wrote:


"Gord Dibben" <gorddibbATshawDOTca wrote in message
.. .
If your column of dates are "real" dates Excel will offer the "oldest to
newest" and "newest to oldest".

Have you somehow re-formatted the dates to text?

If I highlight all the date cells (not the header) and right click and click
Format Cells, it highlights Category = Date and Type = *3/14/2001

BUT Aha! With the dates selected, I got the "oldest to newest". Then a
dialogue box asking me if I wanted to expand the selection or not. I did,
and it sorted everything correctly!

I have lived in fear for years because for a long time I didn't realize that
if I didn't click on the header before I sorted but clicked on the "A B C"
column header, it would just sort the column and screw everything up. I
guess I've found an exception to "click on the header."




Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP


On Tue, 19 Jan 2010 19:22:20 -0500, "Laurel" wrote:

I have a little spread shee with a column called "date" that contains
dates
in a "*3/14/2001" format. That's what I see when I highlight all its
cells
and click "format cells." I'm accustomed to sorting by clicking on the
column header and then the "sort xxx to xxx" icon. Five minutes ago I did
this and was offered "sort oldest to newest" and "sort newest to oldest"
menu items. I don't know exactly what I did after that, but now when I
try
to do the same thing I'm only offered "sort A to Z" and "Sort Z to A."
This
doesn't work out right, of course. What's going on?

TIA
LAS