Why is the sort command in excel 2003 shaded out?

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jico - 26 Sep 2006 13:30 GMT

suddenly Excel stopped letting me sort rows. No matter what I try, I cannot
get the sort command and icon to be usable.

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Bob Umlas - 26 Sep 2006 16:04 GMT

Is the worksheet protected?

> suddenly Excel stopped letting me sort rows. No matter what I try, I cannot
> get the sort command and icon to be usable.

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jico - 28 Sep 2006 13:31 GMT

I don't know about "protecting" a worksheet. I did notice that "[Group]"
appeared after the filename at the top of the window.

I've been using the Microsoft Works spreadsheet for years and have just
transitioned to using excel. These concepts didn't exist in Works.

My file has 297 rows of information. The term"[Group]" appears after the
filename in the title bar. Everything in the Data menu is shaded out. I
can't sort, group(whatever that is), or anything else relating to the data
menu. Excel Help says to select the group to ungroup, but I don't even know
what a group is let alone how to find and select it! Excel Help gives me no
clue of what to do.

I have no idea how it got this way or how to restore the file to its
previous condition.

> Is the worksheet protected?
>
> > suddenly Excel stopped letting me sort rows. No matter what I try, I
> cannot
> > get the sort command and icon to be usable.

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Southpaw - 28 Sep 2006 16:05 GMT

It sounds like two or more worksheets in your workbook are grouped (are all
the tabs at the bottom white?).

Right click on one of the tabs and choose ungroup.

> I don't know about "protecting" a worksheet. I did notice that "[Group]"
> appeared after the filename at the top of the window.
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
> > cannot
> > > get the sort command and icon to be usable.

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Gord Dibben - 28 Sep 2006 16:46 GMT

Before ungrouping the sheets, make note of which are grouped. They are the
white tabs.

If the sheets have been grouped for some time, carefully check all sheets for
changes.

The purpose of grouping is that when you make a change on one sheet in the
group, the same change is made in all the sheets.

Can lead to some interesting problems.........read "disastrous results".

Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP

>It sounds like two or more worksheets in your workbook are grouped (are all
>the tabs at the bottom white?).
[quoted text clipped - 22 lines]
>> > cannot
>> > > get the sort command and icon to be usable.

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jico - 28 Sep 2006 17:05 GMT

Yes!!! That was the problem. Thank you Gord and Southpaw! I must have
inadvertently grouped two sheets together. I can see I've got a lot to learn
about the nuances of Excel. I wonder what would be the quickest and easiest
way to do that.

Thanks again,
Jico

> Before ungrouping the sheets, make note of which are grouped. They are the
> white tabs.
[quoted text clipped - 35 lines]
> >> > cannot
> >> > > get the sort command and icon to be usable.

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Gord Dibben - 28 Sep 2006 17:36 GMT

Lurk in these excel news groups to learn all the tricks.

Use Help extensively.....after a while you will learn what keywords to search
for in Help.

Always keep a recent backup of your workbooks so you can experiment.

When you break things, drag out the recent backup.

Gord

>Yes!!! That was the problem. Thank you Gord and Southpaw! I must have
>inadvertently grouped two sheets together. I can see I've got a lot to learn
[quoted text clipped - 43 lines]
>> >> > cannot
>> >> > > get the sort command and icon to be usable.

Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP

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jico - 28 Sep 2006 18:05 GMT

All good advice. Thanks again, Gord.

Jico

> Lurk in these excel news groups to learn all the tricks.
>
[quoted text clipped - 56 lines]
>
> Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP

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