 <p>Designate an unused column to the right as a 'helper' column and use this formula,</p> <pre><code>=TEXT(--LEFT(A4, FIND("-", A4)-1), "000")&amp;TEXT(--MID(A4, FIND("-", A4)+1,9), "0000") </code></pre> <p>Fill down and sort on the 'helper' column.</p>