I just don't get why these dates don't sort.

[mayday1]

I have a column with dates that look like this in the formula bar when I select the cell.
1/1/2011 1:01:40 PM

The cells are formatted Number / Category = Date / Type = *3/14/2001

In another column, I get the month with this formula:
=TEXT(C2,"MMM-YY")
and in the cell it looks like this:
JAN-11
The cells in this columns are formated as
MAR-01

When I do a pivot table, the columns are placed in alphabetical order. How can I get them to be in date order?

 

[VoG]

Try creating your PT using the original dates then group by date http://www.contextures.com/xlPivot07.html

 

[cstimart]

Which version of Excel?

I know that in 2007, you can leave your dates as is on the spreadsheet and format the results in the PivotTable.

 

[mayday1]

Sorry - 2007

 

[shg]

If you restore Excel's default formatting (Horizontal: General) how does that data align, left or right?

If left, the dates are stored as text. Select the column and do Data > text to columns > Finish.