# Is there a computer program that can put a list of words into alphabetical order? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 5, 2002, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-computer-program-that-can-put-a-list-of-words-into-alphabetical-order/112502 "2002-06-05T15:41:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2002, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-computer-program-that-can-put-a-list-of-words-into-alphabetical-order/112502/1 "2002-06-05T15:41:23Z")
I want to put a list of about 2,000 vocabulary words in an MS Word Document into alphabetical order. Manually, or by cutting and pasting - it’s going to be a chore. I am wondering if there is a word processor feature that will do it for me? ---
**Author:** ![BF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5ac83/32.png) [@BF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BF)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2002, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-computer-program-that-can-put-a-list-of-words-into-alphabetical-order/112502/2 "2002-06-05T15:47:04Z")
On the toolbar, click on tables, Sort. You may have to select everything first. ---
**Author:** ![Running\_with\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Running\_with\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Running_with_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2002, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-computer-program-that-can-put-a-list-of-words-into-alphabetical-order/112502/3 "2002-06-05T15:50:19Z")
There are several ways to do this. I’m assuming you have the words in a straight Word document rather than a table. You could put them into a Word table and then sort them using the table menu. Alternatively (this might be easier if you don’t know how to use tables; I don’t), you could copy the entire list of words into the clipboard, paste it into an Excel spreadsheet, sort the list, then re-copy and re-insert the list into Word. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2002, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-computer-program-that-can-put-a-list-of-words-into-alphabetical-order/112502/4 "2002-06-05T15:53:20Z")
I assume that your list is in a text document, with a hard return between each word. In a word-processing document, AppleWorks can put paragraphs in alphabetical order (ascending or descending). AppleWorks is available on any Macintosh computer. 1. Select the paragrahs you want to sort. 2. Choose Sort Selected Paragraphs from the Edit menu. 3. Choose Ascending, Descending, or Randomize from the pop-up menu. ---
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2002, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-computer-program-that-can-put-a-list-of-words-into-alphabetical-order/112502/5 "2002-06-05T15:57:15Z")
Thanks…I am preparing a glossary. ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2002, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-computer-program-that-can-put-a-list-of-words-into-alphabetical-order/112502/6 "2002-06-05T20:43:57Z")
You don’t need to put the list of words into a table - just select them all (you need to have paragraph returns between each one - it can’t be an endless paragraph of words). ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2002, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-computer-program-that-can-put-a-list-of-words-into-alphabetical-order/112502/7 "2002-06-05T22:07:12Z")
**missbunny** is right. You don’t even need to mess with placing them into tables. If you select them, click on Tables, click on Sort, you will get a pop-up window that asks the criteria and one option is “paragraphs.” Simply click on that and all the text separated by paragraph markers will be sorted in blocks. (If you have built a glossary with definitions, as long as you have not separated the word from the definition by a paragraph tab, the sort should keep together the words (in the correct order) and their definitions.) (Save you file under a new name, first, just to have a backup in case you type something incorrectly.) ---
**Author:** ![Netbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71e660/32.png) [@Netbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Netbrian)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2002, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-computer-program-that-can-put-a-list-of-words-into-alphabetical-order/112502/8 "2002-06-05T23:21:58Z")
If you use tables, make sure the words and definitions are in the same cell, or selected when you do this. I once accidently sorted all the items on a list, but not the numbers that go with them, making it useless. And I had no back-ups. It’s not fun. ---
**Author:** ![PosterChild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e274bd/32.png) [@PosterChild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PosterChild)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2002, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-computer-program-that-can-put-a-list-of-words-into-alphabetical-order/112502/9 "2002-06-06T01:12:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Netbrian \* > \*\*If you use tables, make sure the words and definitions are in the same cell, or selected when you do this. I once accidently sorted all the items on a list, but not the numbers that go with them, making it useless. And I had no back-ups. It’s not fun. \*\* Actually, you just need to make sure both (or all) the columns are selected and they’ll be sorted together. PC ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2002, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-computer-program-that-can-put-a-list-of-words-into-alphabetical-order/112502/10 "2002-06-06T13:33:30Z")
Netbrian: how about Ctrl-Z? Or did you not notice until later?