Alphabetical sorting differences in Excel

[boyse7en]

I've been sent a long list of data (about 700 names and address) in Excel format, which i need to do some work on and return to the original owner.

The problem is that Excel on his PC seems to sort A to Z differently to Excel on my Mac. We are both using Office 365.

His list has this:

E.P. Barrus
Earls Performance
EASI European ATV Safety Institute
Eazi Grip
eBay for Business
EBC Brakes
E-Bikes Direct

Whereas, when i do my tasks and re-sort A-Z by the same column, i get this:

E-Bikes Direct
E.P. Barrus
Earls Performance
EASI European ATV Safety Institute
Eazi Grip
eBay for Business
EBC Brakes


That's just one example, there are others, but i haven't been through the whole thing to check how many.

Anyone had a similar issue, or know how we can overcome it?

[mmm-five]

Yes, it's a difference between the way Microsoft have decided the sort works in different platforms, and across different languages.

It's not even ASCII order, as that would put small 'a' after capital 'Z'.

Easy solution would be to add another column with an incremental number in (based on the preferred sorting order you want), so that you always have that to re-sort?

Edited by mmm-five on Friday 12th April 12:01