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How do I reorder while preserving each para(graph)'s wholeness? Home > Sort disorders them.

enter image description here

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  • Is the character after the 2 (and 3 and 1) a hard line end, or what? If I use that and use a "normal" paragraph mark after the B, A, C then the sort works OK here.
    – user181946
    Nov 16, 2014 at 11:17
  • @bibadia Sorry, but what's a hard line end? I'm a tech novice. I just meant 2 to mark the start of a sentence, according to which I want the paras ordered properly by MS Word.
    – user269574
    Nov 17, 2014 at 11:47
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    You have B on a separate line from 2. So what is between the 2 and the B? You can see "non-display" characters in Word 2013 by clicking the "pilcrow" button at the top right of the Paragraph sectin of the Home tab - not sure you will be able to see this but it looks like this: ¶ If you then see such a sign after the "2", it means that your "2" and "B" are in separate paragraphs.
    – user181946
    Nov 17, 2014 at 14:43
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    Further to bibadia's help, here is what it should look like: prntscr.com/57f031
    – Adam
    Nov 17, 2014 at 21:00
  • @bibadia I confirm that after ensuring that the pilcrow sign has been selected, my input matches Adam's screenshot exactly. I intend 2 and B to form 1 para, but on 2 different lines. So there's nothing between 2 and B?
    – user269574
    Nov 19, 2014 at 15:30

3 Answers 3

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You may use the procedure below.

Starting document contains:

enter image description here

1. Convert every three paragraphs to one paragraph

Position to the beginning of the document and type Ctrl+H for Replace.

In the dialog, check "Use wildcards" and set:

Find what: (*)^13(*)^13(*)^13
Replace with: \1#\2#\3^13

Explanation:

^13 : end-of-paragraph
(*) : any string, marked as a group
# : a random strange character that does not occur in the text
\n : group number n

Pressing Replace All gives the following result:

enter image description here

2. Sort the lines by the most suitable sort order

This gives:

enter image description here

3. Break up the lines

Position to the beginning of the document and type Ctrl+H for Replace.

In the dialog, check "Use wildcards" and set:

Find what: (*)#(*)#(*)^13
Replace with: \1^13\2^13\3^13

Pressing Replace All gives the following result:

enter image description here

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  • Thanks! Apologies for the delay. I forgot to remind myself in Outlook of this bounty!
    – user269574
    Jul 27, 2019 at 2:06
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You are using a table, but have placed all the data in a single row, separated in 3 columms, so the each word isnt "connected" to the next one in the same columm. If you want to avoid having borders between the data, you can disable these in the design tab, and then separate the data in different rows created from the layout tab

That should allow you to then order the data correctly

EDIT: Extra note, when sorting, dont forget to mark the "My List: Has header rows" option just above the Options button, or the headers will also get sorted and probably end up somewhere random in your table

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I think SHIFT+ENTER is what you're looking for. Please check out the sample images below.

I've taken the content from Juanjo's answer for testing.

Initial Paragraph: before sorting

Word - Sort Paragraph-1

The Enter symbol in the above image indicates that the next line is in the same paragraph

After Sorting:

Word - Sort Paragraph-2

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  • Thanks. Can you please clarify how you sorted? To what did you apply SHIFT+ENTER?
    – user269574
    Jul 27, 2019 at 2:06
  • Hitting Enter directly will create a new paragraph, so the first letter you enter after hitting enter will be considered for sorting. But the text you enter after Shift-Enter won't be considered as a new paragraph. That's how you can trick Word how to sort.
    – Gangula
    Jul 27, 2019 at 8:01

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