How to sort columns based on two criteria?

[Jyggalag]

Hi all!

I currently have this setup (albeit with more columns in reality):

I would like to sort it by dates first, and then by the number after. However, I want this done, so it respects the date assortment before the number assortment, so it wouldnt for example put:

1 - February: 1
Before
5 - January: 35

I hope this makes sense. Can somebody guide me on how to do this please?

Thank you!

Kind regards,
Jyggalag

 

[RoryA]

Use Data - Sort, then use date as the first field and number as the second field.

 

[Jyggalag]

Another issue is that I am finding it difficult to sort by date based on the way in which the dates are written. It is not 01/01/2022, but rather 1 - January for example

 

[RoryA]

If those are not real dates, then they will sort alphabetically. I'd suggest you convert them to real dates. You can always format them to display the way you have them now.

 

[Jyggalag]

H

Use Data - Sort, then use date as the first field and number as the second field.

Hi Rory,

Thank you so much! That is actually a very nice feature that I was not familiar with.

However, it does not seem to work due to the note from before

 

[Jyggalag]

If those are not real dates, then they will sort alphabetically. I'd suggest you convert them to real dates. You can always format them to display the way you have them now.

Okay thank you, do you have a smart way to do this without doing it manually?

 

[RoryA]

It depends just how messy the data is, and whether your regional settings recognise something like "1-January-2022" as a date. From just your sample, you have misspelled months, trailing dashes and different spacing.

 

[Jyggalag]

Use Data - Sort, then use date as the first field and number as the second field.

Dear Rory,

I had to spend a little time converting the dates But your solution proposed here works now! Thank you so much once again.

Kind regards,
Jyggalag