excel help with sorting... things are screwed up.?

Question

I have a data base of about 9000 names and addresses. I have added new names to the bottom of the list. I highlighted the whole sheet and did data>sort>sort last name ascending and then first name ascending. Now, a lot of the addresses are not matching up to their proper names. Some of them are correct, but some are not. Someone please help!

it was saved to a thumb drive. is it possible that it is corrupt or something? is there no way to get it back the way it was?

also, if i hadn't highligheter all of the columns, then ALL of the names and address would not match, right?

Answer 1

There is no need to select the whole worksheet to sort if the data table has no blank rows in it. You can click in a column and choose the A-Z or Z-A buttons to sort that column. Excel will remember the last sort, so if you sort by first name first, then by last name, Excel will sort both. Also, you can click anywhere in the data table and click the data menu, then sort as you described above. Make sure all of the columns have headers and that you choose the Header Row radio button.

If you sorted incorrectly and saved the file, not much you can do to get it back except cut and paste.....

Answer 2

If you just want to sort by last name you can highlight the last name column, click on the sort icon (there are two, A-Z and Z-A). It will ask you if you want to "expand selection", make sure you click "yes" or whatever is the affirmative. This will retain the rows while sorting by last name. It will not however sort by first name within the last names (i.e. John Smith will not necessarily come before Nick Smith).

Answer 3

you must not be highlighting the entire worksheet try hitting the box where the rows and the column intersect in the upper right hand corner and it will highlight everything in the worksheet and then do a data sort.

If that don't give you the results you need then some of your data must have already been corrupt is my best guess.