impossible sorting excel Solved

Question

Hello,
I cannot sort a spreadsheet in Excel because I have merged cells in certain rows and in different columns. The message is:
"this operation requires merged cells to be of the same size"
How can I avoid having to retype my entire table, which is quite large?
And without having to change this formatting?
Thank you in advance

Configuration: Windows XP Firefox 3.5.6

m@rina · Answer

Hello,

It's impossible.
One basic rule for using Excel as lists or databases is to NEVER MERGE cells...
How do you expect Excel to sort when cells are merged?
Moreover, in the latest versions of Excel, when you convert a range into a table, merges are not allowed.

I think it's a big mistake by Microsoft developers to have allowed cell merging in Excel.

A tip that compensates for horizontal merges is to center across multiple cells (Cell Format).

m@rina
--
- "On the office forum, people ask questions about office automation..."
- "Really???"

Raymond PENTIER · Answer

Hello.
The answer, unique and non-negotiable, to your question is IMPOSSIBLE.
... at least until Microsoft Office completely overhauls the design of its spreadsheet software.
It's not about agreeing or not; it's a fact: You also can't stick a stamp on an envelope contained within another already sealed envelope, can you?
--
Retirement is great! Especially in the Caribbean... :-)
☻ Raymond ♂

MP · Answer

I managed to do it:  1. Copy and paste everything into TextEdit (I have a Mac - try WordPad on PC?) 2. Copy and paste everything into OpenOffice spreadsheet.

Trauma · Answer

Hello everyone.
As for me, I arrived at this topic because I had the same problem, but I just found a solution.
To explain the context: I have a file to send with tables on the left and charts on the right. The table that was at the bottom of the page needed to have the same width as the ones above it, even though it had fewer columns. So, I had to merge some cells. For this table that changes every week, I added a button linked to a macro that sorts the data in descending order when clicked.
To successfully perform this sort despite the merged cells, I used a simple but effective trick:
I created another table that contains the values without merging.
The merged table simply points to the values of the other table.

For example: column A: unmerged title but I entered the formula: "=J5"
Columns B and C are merged but I entered the formula: "=K5"
Columns D and E are merged but I entered the formula: "=L5"

The sort is performed on the J;K;L table, and the display updates on the A;B;C;D;E table.

The J;K;L table is hidden behind one of the charts, but in your files, it could also be set to white font on a white background with no border to make it invisible.

Hoping to have helped you.

Impossible sorting excel

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