diff --git a/crates/ui-egui/src/dialogs/data.rs b/crates/ui-egui/src/dialogs/data.rs
index e3eabda79..e57a90c4e 100644
--- a/crates/ui-egui/src/dialogs/data.rs
+++ b/crates/ui-egui/src/dialogs/data.rs
@@ -218,8 +218,11 @@ pub(super) fn sort(app: &mut SheetApp, ui: &mut egui::Ui, d: &mut Dialog, confir
             if columns.is_empty() {
                 ui.add(egui::TextEdit::singleline(&mut col).desired_width(50.0)).labelled_by(label.id);
             } else {
+                // The closed box shows the same "B: Revenue" label as the list, not the bare letter (#3446).
+                let shown =
+                    columns.iter().find(|(letter, _)| letter.eq_ignore_ascii_case(&col)).map_or_else(|| col.clone(), |(_, label)| label.clone());
                 craft_ui::ComboBox::from_id_salt(("sort_col", i))
-                    .selected_text(col.clone())
+                    .selected_text(shown)
                     .show_ui(ui, |ui| {
                         for (letter, label) in &columns {
                             ui.selectable_value(&mut col, letter.clone(), label.as_str());
diff --git a/crates/ui-egui/tests/it/sort_dialog_columns.rs b/crates/ui-egui/tests/it/sort_dialog_columns.rs
index b6cbb54f6..098f9c3e6 100644
--- a/crates/ui-egui/tests/it/sort_dialog_columns.rs
+++ b/crates/ui-egui/tests/it/sort_dialog_columns.rs
@@ -34,6 +34,18 @@ fn sort_dialog_seeds_the_active_column() {
     assert_eq!(col(&h), "B", "Sort by starts on the column the cursor is in, not A");
 }
 
+/// #3446: the closed "Sort by" box shows the column's name next to its letter,
+/// as the open list does ("B: Revenue", not just "B").
+#[test]
+fn closed_column_box_shows_the_column_name() {
+    use egui::accesskit::Role;
+    let mut h = harness(sales());
+    h.state_mut().open_dialog("sort", json!({}));
+    h.run_steps(2);
+    let shown: Vec<String> = h.get_all_by_role(Role::ComboBox).filter_map(|n| n.value()).collect();
+    assert!(shown.iter().any(|v| v == "B: Revenue"), "the Sort by box shows the column name: {shown:?}");
+}
+
 #[test]
 fn add_level_picks_a_column_no_level_uses_yet() {
     let mut h = harness(sales());