How to clear Sort in Excel 2007

calendar_today Asked May 27, 2011
thumb_up 16 upvotes
history Updated April 16, 2026

Question posted 2011 · +8 upvotes

I put filters in some columns with numeric values and then used the “Sort Smallest to Largest” feature in one column. Excel sorts and changes the icon in the filter. How do I clean this sort? The sort option is inside the filter button (in the cell) but it seems that is not possible to clean the sort: the “Clean Filter From …” is not enabled and the only way is to undo.

I want to sort, change data and sort back, and there is no other column that could be sorted to get back to the initial state.

Accepted answer +16 upvotes

After using the filtering and sorting combination it’s possible to reset those filters, in order to display the worksheet’s initial state, by selecting the “Clear” function from the ribbon:

Home/Editing – Sort & Filter/Clear

Note that this does not return a table to it’s original/initial sort order, but it does remove all filters and gets rid of any sort arrows in the table header.

*Also valid for Excel 2010

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