This is the Result of an Excel Sort Today on the Total Column, How? Why?

The sorting of the Total column in Excel can be influenced by how Excel interprets the values, particularly with respect to numeric formats and special characters like parentheses for negative numbers. In your provided data, the values include both positive amounts and negative amounts (indicated by parentheses). When sorting, Excel treats these values as numeric, meaning it will sort them based on their numerical value rather than their string representation.

Here's how the sorting works:

• Positive values are sorted in ascending order from lowest to highest.
• Negative values (like ($0.27) and ($0.40)) are treated as lower than zero, so they will appear before positive values in an ascending sort.

In your example, the sorting likely resulted in the following order:

1. ($0.40)
2. ($0.27)
3. $10.06
4. $16.99
5. $19.99 (multiple occurrences)
6. $27.47
7. $39.98
8. $44.46
9. $55.97
10. $59.97
11. $88.29
12. $100.48
13. $108.25
14. $128.86
15. $137.68
16. $190.80
17. $221.85

This sorting behavior is standard in Excel, where it considers both the numeric value and the sign (positive or negative) when determining the order of the items in a list.

References:

• Sort and filter data

Hi @Glenn Harris,

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum.

Based on your sharing, I have tried imported your sharing data as values and sorted the data in the ascending order of Total. As a result, the values are sort properly in my Excel worksheet (version 2511 build 19426.20076).

In your original post, you mentioned that this is the results of "an Excel Sort Today". Did you sort the data based on the Today column instead of the Total column. If possible, can you share some screenshots with more details about your Excel worksheet structure and also your expected results so I can clearly understand your situation and provide the most appropriate solution.

Please understand that our initial response does not resolve the issue immediately, but with your help and more detailed information, we can work together to find a solution.    

Thank you for your patience and your understanding. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please feel free to share them in the comments so I can continue to support you. 

I look forward to hearing from you.

Hello, at this point I have given up. I pray msft fixes it in their next patch