Tech Tip – Putting A List In Alphabetical Order By Surname In Microsoft Word

If you are using Microsoft Word, either using the stand-alone application or office package or if it is via an Office 365 subscription, and you would like to sort a list in alphabetical order based on the second word in each list entry, for example, sort it by surname in a list of names, here is how:

• Open Microsoft Word
• Select / highlight the data you want to sort
• From the menu at the top click on the A-Z button (Home\Sort) and select "Options" from the bottom of the menu list
• From the sort options, select "Other" under "Separate fields at" and clear anything in the box, before putting a space in the box by clicking on the box and pressing the space bar once, then click on "OK"
• From the "Sort by" drop down menu, select "Word 2" to sort by the second word (in this example, the surname) in the list then click on "OK"
• This will then sort the list of data into alphabetical order, sorting on the second word in the list