Secret shortcut for fast sorting or reordering in Word

Don’t bother using cut / paste to manually sorting or adjusting a list. There’s a faster shortcut for moving a line or paragraph around a Word document which isn’t in the usual lists of Word keyboard shortcuts.

Word has a simple shortcut to that move the current line or paragraph up or down without selecting it first

Windows: Alt + Shift + up/down arrow

Mac:  Control + Shift + up/down arrow

No need to select the line or paragraph. The line will move up/down right away.

Put the cursor anywhere in a line then press Alt + Shift + up or down arrows.

Use this trick to reorder lists or entire paragraphs.

No selection needed

Alt + Shift + up/down works without selecting the text first, which is real time saver.

If part of a line or paragraph is selected, Alt+Shift+up/down will still move the entire paragraph, ignoring the selection.

The entire line/paragraph is automatically selected when you use the shortcut.

More than one paragraph

Usually no selection is required but the shortcut works for selections larger than a paragraph.

Select multiple line or paragraphs then use Alt + Shift + up/down to move the entire selection.

Any partial paragraph selection will be extended to include that entire paragraph in the move.

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