Excel, table, sorting by column that does NOT affect other columns

Copper Contributor

Hi,

I created a Table in Excel and I want to A-Z sort each column independently of the others. How do I do this? Every time I sort one column it automatically assumes that I want the other columns to match up in the rows.  Would it be better to not use a table in this instant? Thank you. 

2 Replies

@MamaCLG76 

In a table, it is not possible to sort columns independently of other columns of the table, since all cells in a row in a table is treated as belonging together.

Outside of a table, you can sort individual columns by selecting them before clicking one of the Sort buttons.

@MamaCLG76 

Your data is not a table (a list of records) because the operation you propose would destroy data records (a process that normally represents in irrecoverable loss of data integrity).

 

In your case, it is likely that each column should be a separate table, especially if the columns may be of differing lengths.