SORTING A COLUMN BY DATE

[Todd]

I have a "date" column in my spreadsheet. Is there a way to sort this column
so that the dates are ordered (from earliest to present)? Thanks!! Todd

 

[David Biddulph]

Data/ Sort
[Did you try typing the word "sort" into Excel Help? Help is always worth
trying as a first step.]

 

[Gord Dibben]

If real dates, Data>Sort>Descending


Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP

 

[lindalou]

What is the difference between a "real" date and some other kind of date? I
have both 2000 and 2007, and in neither will dates sort properly. I have used
the dropdown box that lets you select the date format. I type in, for
example, "6/1" and it converts it to "1-Jun". When I sort, I will get some
dates correctly sorted; other dates will be out of sequence. This can include
things like some of the June dates where they should be and others mixed in
with October and December. I have tried using "Custom" rather than date, but
that doesn't help.

 

[Gord Dibben]

A real date is one which Excel rcognizes as a date depending upon your Windows
Regional Settings

An entry could look like a date but be text which Excel does not know where to
sort.

i.e. with Windows regional options set to short date of mm/dd/yyy.

An unambiguous date would be entered as 6/1/2008 and return June 1, 2008

1/6/2008 would return January 6, 2008

When you get to entries like 13/1/2008 or 21/5/2008 Excel will treat that as
text because there is no month 13 or 21

A real Excel date will have a serial number.

You can check by changing the column format to General.

Real dates will produce a serial number, text dates will not change.

January 6, 2008 will have serial number of 39453
June 1, 2008 will have serial number of 39600


Gord

 

[lindalou]

My numbers seem to be real dates. I get numbers of the sort you just
mentioned. And still, the sorting problem.

 

[Gord Dibben]

If all your "dates" return a serial number then I have no idea why they should
not sort properly by descending order........earliest to latest.


Gord