If I understood your problem correctly, this should help, at least a bit.

Select ONE cell in the column you want to sort by. Then click on a button in
the toolbar, it should say AZ and an arrow downwards. To do an ascending
sort, click the button with and arrow upwards.

If you don't see any of the buttons, try the Sort dialog. You can get that
by going to the menus, Data->Sort

Hope this helps.

Excel sometimes has a hard time guessing what needs to be kept together.

Pre-select all the columns you want sorted then Data>Sort.  Do not use the A/Z
button.

Gord Dibben Excel MVP