excel won't sort the first row in a set of selected rows

With no examples of the data, itself, I can't be certain, but it sounds like the content of cell B2 simply comes first alphabetically - even though it may not look like that's the case. What happens if you sort the same range in Z-A order rather than A-Z - does the content from B2 go to the bottom of the list?

However, when you do as you're doing, Expand the selection applies vertically as well as horizontally, so rows 28 & 29 are being included even though you indicated that don't want them to be. If you want to exclude rows 1, 28 & 29 I'd suggest that you select A2:N27, tab as necessary to have a cell in column B as the active cell in the range, then sort in alpha order.

Another option would be to insert some rows between 27 & 28, sort the primary range, then delete the extra blank rows.

Hi Bob,

 thanks for your help. Your suggestion about not expanding is very interesting. I was actually wondering how one does that.

I just tried. Here is what I did:

- I selected A2:N27 and tabbed to cell B2.

- I hit the sort button

Here's what happened

- the selection area spontaneously changed to A3:N27. I have no idea why.

- the rows 3-27 sorted the right way

- the selection area spontaneously went back to A2:N27.

Please note that each cell in column B (the one that decides the sorting order) only contains a single uppercase letter (either C or D). For some reason cell B2 (which contains a C) is excluded from the sorting procedure.

The cells in column B were originally "General". I tried converting them to "text" but that did not change the above behavior.

Thanks again

Francesco

 Follow directions in this screenshot:

If there is a particular Column or Row Header you want the sort based on, make sure you that you choose that row or column header. 

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Hi Philip,

I think that the window you posted (which I get only if I choose "custom sort" from the dropdown menu inside the sort "button") is just for selecting the sorting criteria.

The criteria I'd select are the default ones: "sort by value" ("cell color", "font color" and "cell icon" are the other possibilities, which I'm  not interested in) and "A to Z" or "Z to A" (I'm interested in alphabetical sorting, not custom).

Anyway, I tried going through that window, but the behavior is exactly the same as I described above: the first row (row 2) is for some reason excluded from the selected range.

This actually happens before my very eyes: after I hit "OK" in the above window (or simply hit the "Sort A to Z" button ) the highlighted area is reduced, excluding row 2, the sorting happens, and the highlighted area goes back to what I originally selected. Beats me why.

cheers

Francesco

See what happens if you:

1. Select B2
2. Go to Edit> Clear> All
3. Re-enter the "C"
4. Then select & sort the range

However, I'm a bit confused by your expectation based on your description of the data, though. If column B only contains the letter C or D & the content of B2 already is a C, why would you expect anything to change in that row when the data is sorted in alphabetical order based on that column? Likewise, if I sort a range in numerical order based on a column that contains positive integers with 1 in the top cell, that record will remain as is in the top row regardless of how many other records may contain the number 1 in that field. To have any different result would require at least one additional sort key.

Hi Bob,

 thanks for your time. I tried what you suggest, but the weird behavior persists.

Your confusion is probably my fault. So, here's my situation in detail

• the cells in column B contain either a "C" or a "D".
• Originally they are in a random order (the ordering is dictated by column A).
• In that situation B2 happens to contain a D.
• I want to sort the worksheet so that the C's and the D's are bunched together, therefore I sort alphabetically according to column B.

If I do "A to Z", rows 3:27 are sorted as I ask (all the C's, then all the D's), but row 2 stays there, despite it should be below all the C's.

If I do "Z to A" the sorting of course appears to be correct (row 2 does not move, but the result is ok because it has a D). I could be happy with that, but the fact that I cannot sort the first row of my selection as I like kind of bothers me.

No, I correct myself, it's not a matter of "first row in the selection", because if the selection does not contain row 2 everything works fine. It is as if row 2 has something preventing ordering.

For instance I tried changing one of the C's with a Z. In that case also "Z to A" fails, because row 2, which has a D, is above the row with the Z.