Can I get Excel to sort my dates using Oldest-Newest instead of A-Z?

Johan Kangasniemi 0 Reputation points
2023-08-16T13:59:00.8066667+00:00

Hi,

I have a Power BI dataset, with a configured Date Table, and a column called Production Day which is the key of the table, and has been configured such. It's a date column with default formatting (dd MMM yyyy)

When I connect to my Power BI dataset through Power Query in Excel, the table loads, and I am able to use Date filters (today, tomorrow, between etc), but my sort options are only available as A to Z or Z to A.

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The table is configured as a date table in Power BI:

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but for some reason, Excel seems to pick up that it is, and isn't, a date.

I can change the formatting of the date to be yyyy-mm-dd in the Power BI dataset to allow for the A-Z sorting to achieve the same outcome as Oldest-Newest - but only for datasets I control and where the existing date formatting isn't already used and depended on.

How can I get Excel to allow me to use Oldest-Newest and vice versa on a field it clearly recognises* as dates?

*(when I pass in a column configured as strings instead of date, I get "label" instead of "date" filtering options).

Any thoughts? Many thanks!

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Excel
A family of Microsoft spreadsheet software with tools for analyzing, charting, and communicating data.
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  1. Emi Zhang-MSFT 24,441 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor
    2023-08-17T06:55:55.8733333+00:00

    Hi,

    I suggest you check if the custom sort option can help you, select the title go to Home- Sort & Filter- Custom Sort...:

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