Excel - Sorting Text as Numbers

Steve has a worksheet that consists of three columns of data: Part Number, Quantity, and Length. Length is designated in inches, with a quotation mark to show it is in inches (such as 30", 54", or 100"). Steve needs to sort the data from shortest to longest length, but Excel sorts the lengths as text, such that 100" comes before 30". He wonders if there is a way to get Excel to sort the textual information as if it were numbers, so 30" correctly comes before 100", without getting rid of the quotation marks.

The short answer is that you can't do it, at least not directly. When you include the quote mark in the cell, Excel treats the entire cell as text and sorts it as such. And, as Steve noted, the text string 100" comes before 30" because 1 comes before 3 in a textual sort.

There are things you can do, however. For instance, if you use a formula to generate the values in your Length column, you could modify the formula so that it "front pads" the lengths with zeroes, as necessary. Using this approach you would not have lengths like 30", 54", or 100", but instead you would have 030", 054", and 100". As long as all the lengths used the same number of digits, the sorting will occur correctly.

You could also add a helper column to the right of the Length column and, in the helper column, place the numeric values of whatever is in the cell to the left. So, if your first data in in cell C2, in cell D2 (your helper column) you could enter the following:

The four quote marks are necessary as the second parameter of the SUBSTITUTE function in order to get rid of quote marks in C2. The result is that D2 contains the numeric value of whatever was in cell C2. Copy the formula down as far as necessary, and then use column D to do the sorting. After sorting you can even hide column D, if desired, or make it as narrow as you want.

Another approach that can work well if you have a limited number of lengths is to create a custom list and then use that list to do the sorting. Here's how to set up the custom list for your lengths:

1. Display the Excel Options dialog box. (In Excel 2007 click the Office button and then click Excel Options. In Excel 2010 or later versions, display the File tab of the ribbon and then click Options.)
2. If you are using Excel 2007, make sure Popular is selected at the left of the dialog box. If you are using Excel 2010 or a later version, click Advanced and then scroll toward the end of the options until you see the General area.
3. Click Edit Custom Lists. Excel displays the Custom Lists dialog box and hides the Excel Options dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

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