Forum Discussion
Excel won't sort properly.
Beginning a few months ago Excel forced me to make a choice between options to expand my sort to continue sorting only with what I've highlighted. Neither option allows me to sort properly. Sorting worked properly before this choice of options was force upon me. How can I return to simply sorting a column without being forced to select options that prevent me from doing so? Many thanks.
2 Replies
Hello,
Excel's sorting logic hasn’t changed, but the dialog now appears more strictly when Excel detects a potential for misalignment - to prevent user errors. It’s a safeguard rather than a bug.
If possible, please share the file via private message so I can take a closer look. In the meantime, I recommend converting your data to a Table (Ctrl + T) and then sorting — this usually resolves sorting issues reliably.
Best regards,
Branka Kajiš, MCT
If you select a range that has adjacent non-blank cells, Excel will always ask whether you want to expand the sort range. To avoid that, make sure that the selected range is isolated, i.e. the adjacent cells are all blank.
