How to Alphabetize a List in Google Docs

If you have typed out a massive list of employee names, a glossary of terms, or a bibliography in Google Docs, you will almost certainly need to sort them in alphabetical order (from A to Z). Unlike Google Sheets, which has a massive “Sort Range” button built directly into the main toolbar, Google Docs is primarily a word processor and completely lacks a native alphabetizing feature. However, you do not need to manually rewrite your entire list. You can use a clever workaround by temporarily borrowing the power of Google Sheets.

The Google Sheets Workaround

Because Docs lacks a sorting engine, we simply copy the data into an app that has one.

1. Open your Google Doc and use your mouse to highlight your entire messy list of names or words.
2. Right-click the highlighted text and select Copy (or press Ctrl+C / Cmd+C).
3. Open a new browser tab, go to sheets.new, and hit Enter to instantly create a blank Google Sheet.
4. Click on the very first cell (A1) and Paste your list (Ctrl+V / Cmd+V). Each item will neatly paste into its own row.
5. Highlight all the pasted cells in column A.
6. In the top toolbar, click on Data.
7. Hover over Sort range and click Sort range by column A (A to Z).

Your list is now perfectly alphabetized in less than a second.

Moving It Back to Google Docs

Now that the data is organized, you just need to put it back.

1. Highlight the newly alphabetized list inside Google Sheets and Copy it.
2. Go back to your original Google Doc.
3. Ensure your messy list is still highlighted, and Paste the new data over it.

Google Docs might paste the text inside a small table outline. To remove this, simply highlight the table, go to Format > Table > Table properties, and change the Table border color to white (or 0pt width). Your document now looks perfect, and you successfully bypassed Google’s frustrating lack of a sorting button.