Numbers version 5.1 won't sort

This doesn't directly address your posted question, but does describe a major difference between sorting in a Numbers table and sorting in MS Excel and tables in applications following the Excel model.

"I select the whole column I want to alphabetize and and the sort box comes up."

Numbers sorts are always sorts of the whole table, using the values in one column to determine the order into which the rows are sorted.

Example: The table below is filled with a random set of single letter text items.

After filling the table, the cells (formula and results) were copied, then the formulas were stripped and the results pasted back into the cells.

In the image, column A has been selected by clicking on any cell to activate the table and display the column and row reference tabs above and to the left of the table, then clicking the column A tab to select that column:

Hover the pointer to the right of the letter on the selected tab. a 'wide v' will appear, indicating the presence of a contextual menu.

Click the v to open the menu, then choose Sort ascending.

Result:

Note that the order of the rows has been determined by the alphabetical value of the text data in the selected column. but the data in each of those rows remains in the same order within the row.

To sort the data in a single column, you need to separate that data from the rest of the table, sort it, then return the sorted data to its column in the new order.

One way to do that is to:

Select the cells whose contained values is to be sorted. Press command-C to copy the cells and their content.

• Click on an empty space in the sheet, then press command V to paste a new single column table containing those values.
• Sort that column of data, then select the cells and copy the sorted values.
• Return to the original table, click (once) on the first cell from which the data was originally copied, and press command-v.
• The sorted values will be pasted into the original series of cells.

Regards,

Barry

What type of data do you have in the cells in the column you want to use as the base for the sort?

What steps do you take to initiate the sort?

Does your table have any merged cells?

Does this happen with a single document, with several documents, or with all Numbers documents?

What other information can you supply?

Regards,

Barry

I don't recall the specifics of version 5.1 but in version 12.1 there is a menu item named "apply sort rules" which may be the same thing as 5.1's "sort now". To use it you must first set up some rules for sorting (done in the Organize sidebar), otherwise it is grayed out. This is useful for sorting by multiple columns. The way Barry showed is the usual (and easy) method for sorting by a single column.