Reverse order of a numbered list

[spasmous2]

I have a long list of numbered items in a Word file. I ordered them by
date (earliest first) whereas I should have ordered them by reverse
date (latest first). Is there any way to this automatically so they
appear as follows?

In the current form:
1. Item 1
2. Item 2
3. Item 3
3. Item 4

Want in this form:
1. Item 4
2. Item 3
3. Item 2
3. Item 1

Manually doing it will takes hours! Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[spasmous2]

I have a long list of numbered items in a Word file. I ordered them by
date (earliest first) whereas I should have ordered them byreverse
date (latest first). Is there any way to this automatically so they
appear as follows?

In the current form:
1. Item 1
2. Item 2
3. Item 3
3. Item 4

Want in this form:
1. Item 4
2. Item 3
3. Item 2
3. Item 1

Manually doing it will takes hours! Thanks for any suggestions.

Whoops typos:

In the current form:
1. Item 1
2. Item 2
3. Item 3
4. Item 4

Want in this form:
1. Item 4
2. Item 3
3. Item 2
4. Item 1

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Assuming the numbering is auto numbering, there's no reason you can't
reverse the sort by using Table | Sort to sort by date (descending). That
assumes that they actually contain dates.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

I have a long list of numbered items in a Word file. I ordered them by
date (earliest first) whereas I should have ordered them byreverse
date (latest first). Is there any way to this automatically so they
appear as follows?

In the current form:
1. Item 1
2. Item 2
3. Item 3
3. Item 4

Want in this form:
1. Item 4
2. Item 3
3. Item 2
3. Item 1

Manually doing it will takes hours! Thanks for any suggestions.

Whoops typos:

In the current form:
1. Item 1
2. Item 2
3. Item 3
4. Item 4

Want in this form:
1. Item 4
2. Item 3
3. Item 2
4. Item 1

 

[spasmous2]

Assuming the numbering is auto numbering, there's no reason you can't
reverse the sort by using Table | Sort to sort by date (descending). That
assumes that they actually contain dates.

Wow... yes it works. Who'd have thought a list was a table! Thanks
Suzanne.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Well, it isn't a table, it's just that the Table menu seemed (to someone)
like a logical place to put the Sort command (since sorting is often used in
tables).

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

Assuming the numbering is auto numbering, there's no reason you can't
reverse the sort by using Table | Sort to sort by date (descending). That
assumes that they actually contain dates.

Wow... yes it works. Who'd have thought a list was a table! Thanks
Suzanne.

 

[rhodium]

What if the list doesn't contain a date? Or, in my case, it's just a year in
parentheses - not recognized as a date in Table-Sort.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

If the list lends itself to being converted to a table such that the
parenthetical dates are in a single column, you can sort them by Number, but
that's a stretch (and the odd thing is that you have to sort "Descending" to
get the dates in chronological order--not sure I understand that).

 

[rhodium]

Oh my gosh, I figured out how to do it. I think I need a patent for this .
The date in a column trick didn't work, but here's what did:

1. Select the entire list and paste it into Excel. It gets pasted as a
single column and the list numbers are converted to real numbers.
2. Change numbers 1 through 9 to 01 through 09 so they will sort correctly.
3. Select the column with the list in it and sort descending. The list is
now in the correct order, but numbered high to low.
4. Change 01 to 09 back to 1 to 9.
5. Copy the contents of the column back into a new Word document. It will be
pasted as a table with one column.
6. Select the table (Table/Select).
7. Convert the table to text (Table/Convert/Table to Text)
8. Select All, then Format/Bullets and Numbering
9. From the choices, choose one of the 1. 2. 3. lists
10. Voila!