Rearranging the order of pages in Word 2010

Anonymous
2012-03-15T13:24:51+00:00

In Word 2010  can you sort pages like you can sort pages in Powerpoint by simply dragging and dropping ?  If not by dragging and dropping, how?

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Charles Kenyon 170.9K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
2012-03-15T13:41:49+00:00

In Word 2010  can you sort pages like you can sort pages in Powerpoint by simply dragging and dropping ?  If not by dragging and dropping, how?

Nope.

Word is a text flow program. It prints text on pages but doesn't really organize by page. Powerpoint is a slide show program. It does organize by slides.

You can cut and paste text.

If you have used heading styles to organize your document, you can use the navigation pane to move logical sections around.

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Anonymous
2012-03-15T15:20:45+00:00

If each page begins with a heading  formatted with a page break before (instead of a manual page break between pages), you can switch to outline view, collapse the view to the heading level used at the tops of pages (say, heading 1), and move (by dragging or by cutting and pasting) the headings.  The content under the heading will move with them.  Also in outline view, you can sort the headings.   When cutting in outline view, you must include the heading's paragraph mark so that subheads and text will be included in the cut.  

The navigation pane also allows you to collapse or expand the heading levels shown and to drag headings to rearrange, but as far as I know, you cannot cut and paste to move headings and you cannot sort them.

HTH,

Pam

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  1. Anonymous
    2016-02-11T10:39:34+00:00

    ... No wonder nobody can use this !

    " a page break before instead of manual page breaks" - How do you know if there's a page break before a heading ... as part of the heading format.

    Why not just make Word's navigation pane treat pages like Powerpoint does if the user wants ? A "Use Pages" switch would be ideal to switch between free format and 'paged' - then Word and PowerPoint could become one!

    Or does Word 2016 already do this.

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  2. Charles Kenyon 170.9K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2015-12-10T20:51:34+00:00

    That is the biggest line of bull I've ever heard.

    If MS Word doesn't offer the ability to re-arrange pages in a Word document, that's one thing. But statements that most users don't require or expect this functionality, and quotes from others, such as ["No word processor is designed to re-order content by page. That's not what word-processing* is for"], is as ridiculous as the application's inability to perform this simple task. And other posts implying if the document was "well-designed", this wouldn't be such a chore, are as equally ridiculous. Perhaps, if the "application" was well-designed instead, we wouldn't even be having this discussion.

    *Using Pages on my Mac, I simply need to open the navigation pane, and drag a page into a new position. Done... in a matter of seconds! Strange how a FREE app recognizes simple drag and drop functionality, but a behemoth, like MS Office, can't handle it.

    My statements are based on my experience with multiple Word processing programs and with Word in particular. I am not saying that this would not be something a large number of users would want, simply that the "large number" is still a minority of users. Word's basic structure does not see pages. It sees Sections, Paragraphs, to some extent Sentences, and words. It sees its heading styles.

    You can use its ability to see these to structure your document so that you can move them quite easily. The navigation pane is designed to do this, working with heading styles.

    You do not have to use Word.

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  3. John Korchok 236K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2015-12-09T22:03:56+00:00

    As long as you insert a section break on each page, yes, you can drag and drop pages in the Pages Thumbnail view. If the document is one long text with no section breaks, it doesn't work.

    I'm not defending Word, I'm comparing the programs and demonstrating an inherent shortcoming in word processors when it comes to moving pages. With every such program I've ever used, if you insert a section break on every page, it does make it easier to move pages around.

    I admire that Pages can convert to Page Layout mode, but the compromises are evident. If you move pages in Page Layout, then switch back to Word Processing mode, you'll find there are section breaks inserted on each page. The round trip gives you a very different document.

    I also pointed out that Word's navigation panel allows you to rearrange content (not pages) using drag and drop already, even without inserting section breaks.

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