A range of cells may not sort as expected when you apply a two-color scale conditional format or a three-color scale conditional format in Excel 2007

You apply the Color Scales conditional formatting as a two-color scale or as a three-color scale to a range of cells in Microsoft Office Excel 2007. If you try to sort the cells by cell color, the range of cells may not sort as expected.

This behavior may occur because the Color Scales conditional formatting applies color as a gradient. When you sort by cell color, Excel looks only for a match. Other color shades that are very close to the color shade that you select for the top color but that do not exactly match will not be sorted to the top.

To work around this behavior, use the Conditional Formatting Rules Manager dialog box to apply a predefined fill color that is based on the value in each cell. Apply the predefined fill color to each cell in the range of cells.

To open the Conditional Formatting Rules Manager dialog box, click Conditional Formatting in the Styles group on the Home tab, and then click Manage Rules.

For more information about conditional formatting, click Microsoft Office Excel Help or press F1, type Add, change, or clear conditional formats in the Search box, and then click Search.