Sorting by Highlighting

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated July 30, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021


Tim has a list of items in a Word document. Each item is in its own paragraph (Enter at the end) and not in a table. Some of the items (paragraphs) have highlighting applied to them. Tim wonders if there is a way to sort the paragraphs so that the highlighted paragraphs are together. In other words, he needs to sort by highlight as the primary sort key.

Word can sort by many things but sorting by highlighting is not one of those things. However, Find & Replace can search for highlighting. One method would be to use Find & Replace to prefix each highlighted paragraph with a unique keyword, run Find & Replace again to prefix non-highlighted paragraphs with another keyword, then sort the document using the first word as the first key so that the highlighted paragraphs are together. Afterwards run Find & Replace to remove the two special keywords. Obviously, this method is tricky to set up and requires several steps.

Another approach is to simply sort all the paragraphs, without regard to the highlighting. Once that is done, you can use a macro to move highlighted paragraphs to the start of the document. The highlighted paragraphs will appear in the sorted order they were in the document.

Sub MoveHighlightedParas()
    Dim paraMax As Long
    Dim paraStart As Long
    Dim j As Long
    Dim r As Range

    With ActiveDocument
        paraMax = .Paragraphs.Count
        paraStart = 0
        j = paraMax
        Do While j > paraStart
            If .Paragraphs(j).Range.HighlightColorIndex <> wdNoHighlight Then
                .Paragraphs(j).Range.Cut
                Set r = .Content
                r.Collapse
                r.Paste
                paraStart = paraStart + 1
            Else
                j = j - 1
            End If
        Loop
    End With
End Sub

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the WordTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (13272) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021.

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

Opening a Workbook as Read-Only

When you need to work on a workbook, you may want to do so without modifying the original contents of the workbook. This ...

Discover More

Repeating Actions

Need to repeat an action a whole bunch of times? You can do it a time or two using keyboard shortcuts, but you'll need a ...

Discover More

Limiting Where a Workbook is Used

Want to limit who can use your workbook and on what system? Locking down a workbook can be trickier than you might imagine.

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 2013 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access) with VBA programming, using it for writing macros, automating Office applications, and creating custom applications. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2013 today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Changing Paragraph Order

Want a quick way to rearrange entire paragraphs of your document? You can easily do it by using the techniques described ...

Discover More

Alphabetizing By Last Name

Sorting lists of names by last name is easy if they are listed in a LAST, FIRST order. But what if the names are in FIRST ...

Discover More

Controlling How Word Sorts Text

Word has a very orderly way in which it sorts information, but that orderly method may not meet what you need to have ...

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 5 - 5?

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.