VBA & Macro Problems

How to Fix Excel Office Script Sorting Columns Instead of Rows in Power Automate

WPS Editor Oct 10, 2026 869 views

Question details

The user needs to correct an Excel Office Script used in Power Automate that is sorting columns left-to-right rather than rows top-to-bottom.

How to Fix Excel Office Script Sorting Columns Instead of Rows

Product: Excel Office Scripts / Power Automate
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Automating data sorting operations in an Excel spreadsheet using an Office Script triggered via Power Automate.
Observed behavior: The script unexpectedly reorganizes the columns instead of the rows due to an incorrectly configured sort orientation parameter in the Sort.apply method.

Before you start

Ensure you have editing permissions for the specific Excel file and access to the Power Automate flow containing the Office Script.

Solution 1Recommended

Update Sort Orientation to Rows in Sort.apply Method

Change the sorting parameter in your script from columns to rows to ensure the data is sorted vertically as intended.

When the ExcelScript.SortOrientation.columns property is used in the getSort().apply method, the script reorganizes columns horizontally. To fix this, you must explicitly declare row orientation.

Open your Office Script

Navigate to the Power Automate portal, locate your flow, and open the step that runs the Excel script, or open the script directly via the Automate tab in Excel on the web.

Locate the Sort.apply method

Find the line of code where the sorting is applied to your range, which typically looks like: `.getSort().apply(...)`.

Change the sort orientation

Replace `ExcelScript.SortOrientation.columns` with `ExcelScript.SortOrientation.rows` at the end of your apply method's parameters.

Verify your sort keys

Ensure your sort keys are relative to the selected range. For example: `selectedSheet.getRange("A1:D7733").getSort().apply([{key: 0, ascending: true}], false, true, ExcelScript.SortOrientation.rows);`.

Update Sort Orientation to Rows in Sort.apply Method

Zero-based Indexing: Remember that sort keys use a zero-based index. 'key: 0' refers to the first column in your selected range, not necessarily column A of the worksheet.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why is my Excel Office Script sorting left to right instead of top to bottom?

This happens when the sorting orientation in your script is set to 'ExcelScript.SortOrientation.columns'. Changing it to 'ExcelScript.SortOrientation.rows' will restore standard top-to-bottom sorting.

How do I specify multiple columns to sort by in an Office Script?

You can pass an array of sort conditions to the apply method. For example: `[{key: 0, ascending: true}, {key: 1, ascending: false}]` will sort by the first column in ascending order, and then by the second column in descending order.

Are sort keys in Office Scripts absolute column letters or numbers?

No, sort keys are zero-based and relative to the range you have selected in your script. If your specified range is 'C1:F10', then 'key: 0' refers to column C.

Excel & Data Problems