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

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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

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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
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