Sort not working in Excel

The data in column A is not dates. It is text that just happens to look like a date. These must be converted to actual date values to sort properly. I have converted them for you using the DATEVALUE function.

When you look in the formula box your dates look like 01/08/2021. This means it's text. Dates in the formula box are always m/d/yyyy (1/8/2021) no matter what the format of the cell is. (Example uses U.S. format.)

I was able to choose the column to sort with no problem. Not sure what you did that could not choose a column. Because you have headers you can choose DATE, DESCRIPTION, TIME (not A, B, C).

Please see revised file attached.

The dates ARE dates, but they are in standard UK (and quite a lot of the world outside the US!) format: dd/mm/yyyy.

This means it's text.

NOT in the UK and quite a lot of the world outside the US!!!

Frankly, it's time that Microsoft built something into Excel so that transferring date data from one locale to another is not plagued by this issue.

I am able to sort the data on the date column just fine.

This issue is therefore only an issue with this dataset for US-style locales.

You can tell they are dates by the 5-digit serial numbers that show if you set cloumn A to GENERAL formatting:

AliGW on MS365 Beta Channel (Windows 11) 64 bit

	A	B	C
1	DATE	DESCRIPTION	TIME
2	44201	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.9
3	44211	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.2
4	44214	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.2
5	44217	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.1
6	44235	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.5
7	44238	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.5
8	44239	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.6
9	44243	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.2
10	44252	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	1.0
11	44253	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.1
12	44256	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.1
13	44257	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.3
14	44264	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.4
15	44286	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.4
16	44288	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.1
17	44305	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.1
18	44319	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.2
19	44337	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.5
20	44363	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.2
21	44578	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.5
22	44579	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	1.5
23	44580	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.4
24	44587	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.3
25	44595	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.3
26	44614	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	1.6
27	44662	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.4
28	44722	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.3
29	44951	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.5

Sheet: Sheet1

[RANT] I have never understood why anyone would want to use the illogical m/d/yyyy format - you wouldn't use mm:hh:ss. In every other case we grade the items in order from smallest to largest, or from largest to smallest, but not large:smaller:larger!!! If the whole world used dd/mm/yyyy (small:larger:largest - a day is smaller than a month is smaller than a year), then this issue would disappear altogether. [/RANT]

Changing the cell format in the original file makes no difference in how the data is displayed. When I set the format to General the display does not change. The sorting is a textual sort. When I converted them to date values the sort worked as expected. Regardless of US vs. rest-of-the-world, Excel default date format does not use leading zeroes for day and month. If you see leading zeroes in dates but the cell format is not explicitly dates with leading zeroes, then the data is almost certainly text. I suppose the exception might be if you changed your default Windows settings for date format.

Yes, but Jeff, there are NO leading zeroes in the workbook when I open it - they are all legitimate dates in column A.

I don't know how I could reproduce the OP's description of the problem if that were the case. Also the data is left-justified, indicating text. Are you sure you are not looking at my version of the file?

As opened (note formula box):

datesbefore.JPG

After the first date is converted:

datesafter.JPG

Are you sure you are not looking at my version of the file?

No - I am looking at the OP's original. Why would I need to look at your version? But I will have a look now.

I opened your version, Jeff - dates all right-aligned and sortable, just as in the OP's original. As I siad, this data is only going to present an issue for users of a US-style locale.

AliGW on MS365 Beta Channel (Windows 11) 64 bit

	A	B	C
1	DATE	DESCRIPTION	TIME
2	05/01/2021	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.9
3	15/01/2021	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.2
4	18/01/2021	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.2
5	21/01/2021	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.1
6	08/02/2021	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.5
7	11/02/2021	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.5
8	12/02/2021	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.6
9	16/02/2021	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.2
10	25/02/2021	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	1.0
11	26/02/2021	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.1
12	01/03/2021	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.1
13	02/03/2021	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.3
14	09/03/2021	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.4
15	31/03/2021	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.4
16	02/04/2021	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.1
17	19/04/2021	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.1
18	03/05/2021	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.2
19	21/05/2021	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.5
20	16/06/2021	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.2
21	17/01/2022	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.5
22	18/01/2022	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	1.5
23	19/01/2022	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.4
24	26/01/2022	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.3
25	03/02/2022	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.3
26	22/02/2022	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	1.6
27	11/04/2022	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.4
28	10/06/2022	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.3
29	25/01/2023	Telephone call and advice to Debbie;	0.5

Sheet: Sheet1

It does make sense - yes. Glad it's sorted!

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