Sorting Inventory Labels

Gary notes that labels are implemented in Word using tables. He has a three-page set of labels that he uses for inventory. Each label contains a single part number. Gary needs to add new labels to the end of the document each month before printing. Given that the table has four columns and no headings, he wonders if there is a way to sort the labels in alphabetic order left-to-right and top-to-bottom.

For Gary's purposes, there are two approaches that may prove satisfactory. The first is rather simple—after adding the new information at the bottom of the table, follow these steps:

1. Place the insertion point in one of the cells of the table.
2. Make sure the Table Layout tab of the ribbon is displayed.
3. In the Data group, click the Convert to Text tool. Word displays the Convert Table to Text dialog box. (See Figure 1.)



Figure 1. The Convert Table to Text dialog box.

4. Select the Paragraph Marks radio button.
5. Click OK. Word converts the table to text, with the contents of each cell in an individual paragraph. In addition, each paragraph should still be selected.
6. Display the Home tab of the ribbon.
7. Click the Sort tool in the Paragraph group. Word displays the Sort Text dialog box. (See Figure 2.)



Figure 2. The Sort Text dialog box.

8. Using the controls in the dialog box, indicate the way you want the paragraphs sorted.
9. Click on the OK button. Word sorts the paragraphs, and they should all still be selected.
10. Display the Insert tab of the ribbon.
11. Click the Table tool and then click Convert Text to Table. Word displays the Convert Text to Table dialog box. (See Figure 3.)



Figure 3. The Convert Text to Table dialog box.

12. Change the Number of Columns control to 4.
13. Click on OK. Word converts the text to a table, sorted left to right and top to bottom.

This process works just fine, but understand that the only similarity between the beginning table (step 1) and the ending table (step 13) is that they have the same number of columns and rows. The height of those rows and width of those columns will be different, which means that the result may not be satisfactory for printing the labels that Gary wants.

This brings me to the second possible approach: put your inventory items in an Excel workbook and then use mail merge, in Word, to create the labels. Excel makes updating and sorting the part numbers a snap, and it doesn't take that much work to do a mail merge using the label format you want.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (5842) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Word in Microsoft 365.