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Sort Excel Cells That Contain Text And Numbers


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Q. I use a spreadsheet that includes a list of machine parts identified by both words and numbers—for example, Part 2312. Since the cells contain both text and numbers, how can I sort them in numerical order?
A. There are two ways. Either nest the text within quotes—as in “Part” 2356 —or put a forward slash in front of the number—as in Part /2356 . Either of those symbols—the quotes or the slash—tells Excel to ignore the text in its calculation and sort only by number.

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