Do you visually indicate the active sort column?

When users sort a table by clicking a column header, they need to immediately see which column is driving the sort order. Without clear visual indicators, users lose context - especially in data-heavy tables with many columns.

There are 2 key visual cues to provide:

1. Bold the active column header - The sorted column header text should be bold (and optionally a darker color) so it stands out from unsorted headers
2. Show sort direction - Use an arrow icon (up/down) to indicate ascending or descending order. Unsorted columns can show a neutral up-down arrow to indicate they are sortable

Why this matters

Users frequently sort tables and then scroll or scan the data. If the sorted column isn't visually distinct, they have to remember which column they clicked - or worse, they may not realize the data is sorted at all. Bold headers solve this with minimal visual noise.

❌ Figure: Bad example - The table is sorted but nothing visually indicates which column is sorted or in what direction

✅ Figure: Good example - The sorted column header is bold with a direction arrow, making the active sort obvious at a glance