Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, and 2013. 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.
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:
Figure 1. The Sort Text dialog box.
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, and 2013. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Sorting Text.
Comprehensive VBA Guide Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is the language used for writing macros in all Office programs. This complete guide shows both professionals and novices how to master VBA in order to customize the entire Office suite for their needs. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2010 today!
Some people like to format simple tables using tabs instead of using Word's table editor. When it comes time to sort such ...
Discover MoreHeadings are a great way to organize your document. If, after getting your headings in place, you want to sort by those ...
Discover MoreWhen sorting information, Word follows some pretty strict rules. If you want to modify how those rules are applied, you ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
2013-09-03 12:07:22
awyatt
Len,
Andrew didn't write that; I did. No biggie, though. ;-)
I think your complaint may be with Microsoft, not really with the wording of the tip. Fact is, Microsoft doesn't put words on the majority of the Word tools. They use pictures and, sometimes, letters.
However, the tools still need to have names so that you can reference them as you write. These official names are visible when, as Andrew says, you hover the mouse pointer over a tool.
It is much easier (and technically more correct) to refer to the "Sort tool" than it is to refer to the "tool with the AZ and the arrow." While the latter is certainly descriptive, it doesn't match Microsoft's approach to tool naming or the way they refer to tools in their own documentation.
Hope that helps.
-Allen
2013-09-03 10:35:02
Len
Hi Andrew. When you write: "...you'll notice the Sort tool, in the Paragraph group..." and you capitalize the word Sort, I expect to see a button that says Sort. No biggie.
Len
2013-09-02 05:45:39
Andrew
Which is the icon for the sort tool - if you hover over the A-z button it displays a popup with Sort and a little information. Exactly as the tip states. Len - were you expecting some sort of larger icon with the word Sort under it like in Excel?
2013-08-31 20:46:47
This tip is not correct. The Sort Text box is accessed through the Paragraph group using the button with the AZ and the arrow.
Len
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.
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2018 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, and 2013. 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: 
Comments