Working with documents in the Word program often involves listing alphabetically. So, students need to draw up lists of literature, managers or their secretaries - lists of employees. Of course, for the convenience of work, you need to know how to make a list in Word automatically in alphabetical order. It is pretty simple. This article describes how to create simple and numbered lists, based on the division of text into paragraphs.
Training
Before you make an alphabetical list in Word, materials (positions for the future list) must be prepared. They must satisfy a simple requirement: each position should be separated from the other by a paragraph mark. At this stage, your materials will already be a list, but it will be devoid of structure.
A common mistake when compiling lists is to insert extra paragraphs. For example, if each position is not a single line, but a paragraph of complex structure (say, a bibliographic description and annotation), it is easy to skip the extra paragraph mark separating the output of the book from its description. This error is fraught with the fact that the program will read these two parts as independent, make them different positions, respectively, will distribute them alphabetically far from each other in the list.
The second common mistake is the lack of a paragraph mark at the position line. A different character (for example, a space) can be used instead. This often happens when a paragraph occupies a line, and transferring to a new one is automatic, and not forced, that is, by pressing the Enter key. In this case, the Word will not separate the list items and, accordingly, will sort the “stuck together” elements by the first of them.
Therefore, before compiling a list of references alphabetically in Word, enable the display of non-printing characters and make sure that, firstly, each future position is separated from the next paragraph mark, and secondly, each paragraph does not contain extra divisions.
Alphabetical Sort
To sort the resulting list alphabetically, select it and on the "Home" tab in the "Paragraph" tab, find the "Sort" button.
In the window that opens, in the left field, select the "Paragraph" option, and in the right ("Type") - the "Text" option.
Thus, the criterion for separating one fragment from another for the program will be a paragraph (its “Word” will be taken as a list item), and sorting will take place not by date and not by numbers, but by letters.
Please note that the Word allows you to sort in descending and ascending order: just make the appropriate selection.
After clicking OK, your list will be sorted alphabetically.
Common mistake when creating a numbered list
Students and authors of other qualification papers are often interested in how to make a list in the Word alphabetically, which also contains numbering. This is quite simple if you do not make one mistake, which for some reason is quite common.
The fact is that the program can sort both letters and numbers, so you can often see how the author of the work manually numbers the list, and then tries to format it. This is the wrong way.
Create a numbered list alphabetically
In order for the list to be sorted alphabetically and at the same time to remain numbered, it must be issued as numbered.
To do this, select the list and click on the “Home” tab the “Numbering” button. Each paragraph will be assigned a corresponding number. A numbered alphabetical list in Word is created using the same algorithm as an unordered list. When sorting, the numbering automatically changes (updated).
List Continuation
It is important to know not only how to make a list in the Word alphabetically, but also how to continue it.
If the material base needs to be supplemented with one or many positions, it is not necessary to search for the appropriate place for them, just enter them as separate paragraphs, then select the entire list and sort it again - the program will find the appropriate places for the new list items and the numbering will be updated again.
Formatting Features
Sometimes there are difficulties with the fact that the alphabetical list in Word 2010 (as in earlier versions) is not automatically formatted when new items are included in it. The most common problem is that the program does not number the newly added items and, when updating the sort, takes them out of the general list.
To avoid this, it is necessary not only to add new paragraphs at the end of the list, but also to include in the general numbering. Word is a rather capricious application, so at this stage it happens that the inserted elements are numbered, but their formatting differs from all other positions. Therefore, it is better to include new elements in the general numbering with the help of the “Format by sample” button located on the left of the “Home” tab.
Place the cursor on the numbered part of the list, select one of the paragraphs completely, including the final non-printable character, double-click the "Format by sample" button, and then select the new paragraphs of the list. They will be included in the general list.
Now you can select the entire list and re-sort it.
As often happens, the story of how to alphabetize the list in Word is much more complicated and longer than the procedure itself. It is enough to go through all the stages several times from beginning to end, and sorting the list will not present any difficulties.