XL: Can Sort Only 500 Rows When Sorting Left to Right

ID: Q129225

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Excel for Windows, version 5.0
Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh, version 5.0
Microsoft Excel for Windows 95, version 7.0

SUMMARY

When you sort columns from left to right, there is a limitation of 500 rows to sort by.

MORE INFORMATION

To sort columns instead of rows, follow these steps:

1. On the Data menu, click Sort.

2. In the Sort dialog box, click Options, click Sort Left To Right, and

   then click OK.

3. In the "Sort By" field, select the row you want to sort by.

   This field allows you to only select a row from the first 500 rows
   within your sort area.

The user interface used for sorting has changed from Microsoft Excel 4.0 to Microsoft Excel 5.0. The limit of 500 rows was chosen to avoid running out of memory while populating the list for the "Sort By" field.

REFERENCES

"User's Guide," version 5.0, Chapter 21, "Sorting Data in a List"

For more information about Sorting From Left To Right, choose the Search button in Help and type:

   sort order

Additional query words: 5.00 7.00 order

Keywords          : xlui xllist 
Version           : WINDOWS:5.0,7.0; MACINTOSH:5.0
Platform          : MACINTOSH WINDOWS
Issue type        : kbinfo

Last Reviewed: February 5, 1998