I am most likely way off target here, but?  The only way to sort, is to
select everything you wish to sort, and then to sort by the column or columns
you want to sort by?  One way is to select the top leftmost cell, hold down
the <Shift> key, and then press <End><Down><End><Right>, or select a named
range.  Given that an area of more than one row, and more than one column is
selected, you will be able to sort that area by whichever of the selected
columns you wish.  A header row makes it easy to select criteria, while an
area without a header row merely requires you to select columns iso headers.