I have a column of numbers, Specifically: 5.2, 42.0, 25.5, 2.4, 11.8, 0.9, 0.5. Notice how it has sorted by the first digit, not the whole number. In other words 5.2 is ranked higher than 42, because 5 is larger than 4. What do I turn on or off to make it behave sensibly?
Any answers would be appreciated.
Martin
MacBook Air (11-inch Mid 2011), OS X Mavericks (10.9.2)
Hi Martin,
Are the cells formatted as Text (left aligned, as in Column B)?
Data Format in Column C
Column C will sort as Number.
Regards,
Ian.
Hi Ian,
Many thanks for the speedy reply. It is something I considered but when I tried to change the drop down box from 'automatic' to 'number', it always reverts back to automatic as soon as I hit the 'sort' triangle. I'm wondering if it is something to do with importing the file from one sent to me in excel?
Martin
Hi Martin,
Did the 'Automatic' values sort correctly as numbers? If so, no worries.
But to force them to Number format, try this:
Insert another column.
Format that column as Number.
Select and copy the Automatic column.
Click in the Number column and Menu > Edit > Paste and Match Style.
Delete the Automatic column.
Regards,
Ian.
when I sort a column of figures, it sorts by the first digit. How do I get it to sort by the whole number?
