Can't sort by name with LibreOffice Calc

I entered names and address, etc for my school alumnae, to my horror, I couldn’t sort by name.

I am using latest version of LibreOffice Calc on Windows 7.

Also thought it could be opened with Microsoft Works, but that doesn’t work either.

1 Like

Did you try highlighting the column of last names and then use Data → Sort

or Data → Sort Ascending

or Data → Sort Descending

If you entered only a last name (or a first name) in that column, it should work.

The problem is the sort is grayed out.

Perhaps the sheet is write protected or the document is opened in read-only mode. We would know for sure if you uploaded the file to a server somewhere and then edited the question to give the link. Note: Titles should be summaries of the question. The title you gave is too long, and there should be more relevant tags. See guidelines for asking.

Certainly a document containing names and addresses should have its data replaced by placeholders before publishing…

However, if Sort is disabled and the document is not read-only it may also be that ChangeTracking is enabled, check menu Edit → Track Changes and if Record Changes is checked then choose that to disable. Which also discards existing tracking though.

to erAck. Your suggestion to uncheck track changes did the trick. I am self-taught so I didn’t realize there was a strict protocol for asking questions. I appreciate your help.

For completeness, also as answer.

If Sort is disabled and the document is not read-only it may be that ChangeTracking is enabled, check menu Edit → Track Changes and if Record Changes is checked then choose that to disable. Which also discards existing tracking though.

1 Like