Skip to main content

How to reverse the order of a numbered or bulleted list in Word?

Author Sun Last modified

When working with numbered or bulleted lists in Word, you may sometimes need to reverse the order of items. Manually copying and pasting each line one by one can be time-consuming and impractical, especially for long lists. This guide will walk you through a simple method to achieve this with minimal effort.

Reverse a list using the Convert Text to Table and Sort features

List is now reversed

Recommended Productivity Tools for Word

Kutools for Word: Integrating AI πŸ€–, over 100 advanced features save 50% of your document handling time.Free Download

Office Tab: Introduces the browser-like tabs to Word (and other Office tools), simplifying multi-document navigation.Free Download


Reverse a list using the Convert Text to Table and Sort features

Word does not offer a direct feature to reverse a list, but you can achieve this by converting the list into a table and sorting it in descending order. This method works for both numbered and bulleted lists. Follow the steps below to reverse your list efficiently.

  1. If the list is a bulleted list, convert it to a numbered list by selecting it and clicking Home > Numbering. This helps Word sort the list correctly when reversing it. Skip this step if the list is already numbered.
    A bulleted list is selected and to be converted to a numbered list with the Numbering button highlighted
  2. Press Ctrl + C to copy the entire numbered list, then press Ctrl + V to paste it into the document using the Keep Text Only option.
    Keep Text Only option selected under the Paste Options
    Tip: If you have Kutools for Word installed, you can quickly convert the list to text by selecting the list and clicking Kutools > Convert > List to Text.
    List to Text option on the Kutools tab
  3. Select the pasted list, then go to Insert > Table > Convert Text to Table.
    Convert Text to Table option on the Insert tab
  4. In the Convert Text to Table dialog box, click OK to convert the list into a table directly.
    Convert Text to Table dialog
  5. Click Table Layout > Sort. In the Sort dialog box, configure the following options:
    1. Sort by: Column 1
    2. Type: Number
    3. Order: Descending
      Sort dialog
  6. Click OK. The table content will now be reversed. Select the reversed list and press Ctrl + C to copy it.
    List within the table is now reversed and selected
  7. Place the cursor where you want to paste the reversed list, press Ctrl + V, and select Keep Text Only.
    Reversed list pasted as text only
  8. Select the pasted reversed list and reapply numbering or bullets by going to Home > Numbering or Bullets.
    Numbering button on the Home tab

Your list is now reversed:

List is now reversed

Office Tab: Brings tabbed interfaces to Word, Excel, PowerPoint...
Navigate through documents using Office Tab
Enhance your workflow now.      Learn More about Office Tab       Free Download

Related articles:

Best Office Productivity Tools

Kutools for Word - Elevate Your Word Experience with Over 100 Remarkable Features!

πŸ€– Kutools AI Features: AI Assistant / Real-Time Assistant / Super Polish (Preserve Format) / Super Translate (Preserve Format) / AI Redaction / AI Proofread...

πŸ“˜ Document Mastery: Split Pages / Merge Documents / Export Selection in Various Formats (PDF/TXT/DOC/HTML...) / Batch Convert to PDF...

✏ Contents Editing: Batch Find and Replace across Multiple Files / Resize All Pictures / Transpose Table Rows and Columns / Convert Table to Text...

🧹 Effortless Clean: Sweap away Extra Spaces / Section Breaks / Text Boxes / Hyperlinks / For more removing tools, head to the Remove group...

βž• Creative Inserts: Insert Thousand Separators / Check Boxes / Radio Buttons / QR Code / Barcode / Multiple Pictures / Discover more in the Insert group...

πŸ” Precision Selections: Pinpoint Specific Pages / Tables / Shapes / Heading Paragraphs / Enhance navigation with more Select features...

⭐ Star Enhancements: Navigate to Any Location / Auto-Insert Repetitive Text / Toggle Between Document Windows / 11 Conversion Tools...

🌍 Supports 40+ Languages: Use Kutools in your preferred language – supports English, Spanish, German, French, Chinese, and 40+ others!

Kutools and Kutools Plus tabs on the Word Ribbon
πŸ‘‰ Want to try these features? Download Kutools for Word now! πŸš€
 

Best Office Productivity Tools

Kutools for Word - 100+ Tools for Word