Sort Key Warning

[Chris]

On occasion, when I sort an Excel worksheet on a field that is defined as
text and is all numbers, I get a sort warning:
The following sort key may not sort as expect? 1. Sort anything that looks
like a number, as a number? 2. Sort numbers and numbers stored as text
separately?

Frequently it occurs when I have imported a text file into Excel.

 

[Tyro]

1,5,12 stored as numbers sort as: 1,5,12. When stored as text, they sort as
1,12,5. You're being asked how you want to sort the data.

Tyro

 

[Kevin B]

It's not so much as a warning, it's a request to define how you want to treat
numbers stored as text in the sort range.

The following list would be sorted as text in this manner if you choose 2

Original Sorted
1 1
3 12
12 2
2 21
21 3

If you were expecting a numeric sort this would come as surprise.

The request is for confirmation on how to proceed with the sort.

 

[Alan]

Tyro and Kevin have already explained the reason for the message.
If you want to convert all your imported text numbers to true numbers, try
this:-
Enter 1 into an empty cell,
Right click the cell > Copy
Highlight all the cells containing the numbers to convert
Right click the highlighted range > Paste Special
In the 'Operation' section check 'Multiplication' > OK
Delete the '1' from the empty cell,
Regards,
Alan.