Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Sorting Text.

Sorting Text

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 13, 2024)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021


Word provides quite a few different tools on its various ribbons. If you do some exploring, you'll notice the Sort tool, in the Paragraph group on the Home tab of the ribbon. Using this tool, you can easily sort any information you desire. To sort text, follow these steps:

  1. Select the text containing the information to be sorted. (If you are sorting a table, then simply place the cursor anywhere within the table. If you are sorting regular text, then select the entire list you want sorted.)
  2. Display the Home tab of the ribbon.
  3. Click the Sort tool, in the Paragraph group. Word displays either the Sort dialog box (if you are sorting information in a table) or the Sort Text dialog box (if you are sorting regular text that is not in a table). (See Figure 1.)
  4. Figure 1. The Sort Text dialog box.

  5. Using the controls in the dialog box, indicate the way in which the text should be sorted. (For regular text, outside of a table, the normal way to sort is by Paragraphs. When sorting a table, you can select which column of the table you sort by.)
  6. Click on the OK button.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (8140) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Sorting Text.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Hiding Columns Not within a Date Range

Want to automatically hide some columns that don't meet a date criterion that you set? You can't do it automatically, but ...

Discover More

Word 2010 Indexes and Special Tables (Table of Contents)

One of the finishing touches used in some types of documents are an index or a special table, such as a table of ...

Discover More

Changing Number Display Settings for Single Workbooks

How Excel displays numbers is extremely flexible, but it can also be very confusing. This tip looks at how number display ...

Discover More

Learning Made Easy! Quickly teach yourself how to format, publish, and share your content using Word 2013. With Step by Step, you set the pace, building and practicing the skills you need, just when you need them! Check out Microsoft Word 2013 Step by Step today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Odd Sorting

Word is great at sorting simple information in tables and paragraphs. If you have more complex information (such as ...

Discover More

Sorting Inventory Labels

When you have a lot of data formatted into labels, you may want to periodically add additional information to those ...

Discover More

Sorting Single-Column Addresses

Got a document that contains a bunch of addresses? If you want to sort the addresses, then you are in for a surprise ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 4 - 3?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Videos
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.