How to sort lines
- Paste your list with one item per line.
- Choose a mode (alphabetical, numeric, length or reverse) and a direction, ascending or descending.
- Adjust case sensitivity, duplicate removal and empty-line removal, then copy the result.
Examples
Before
Zoë Émile Adam elena
After
Adam elena Émile Zoë
Before
file10.txt file2.txt File1.txt
After
File1.txt file2.txt file10.txt
Before
Rome 14 Oslo -3 Lisbon (no data) Madrid 9 Reykjavik -1
After
Oslo -3 Reykjavik -1 Madrid 9 Rome 14 Lisbon (no data)
Before
banana pear fig apple kiwi
After
fig kiwi pear apple banana
When to use it
- Alphabetize names, glossary terms or a bibliography.
- Order prices, scores or measurements copied from a report.
- Sort file names or version labels in natural order.
- Find the shortest or longest keywords, titles or product names.
- Reverse a log or a chronological list so the newest entries come first.
How each sort mode works
Alphabetical sorting uses the browser’s language-aware collation (Intl.Collator) with English rules on this page. Accented letters sort next to their base letter, so “Émile” comes after “elena” instead of after “Z” as in a plain code-point sort. Numbers inside lines are compared by value, so “file2” comes before “file10”. Sorting is case-insensitive by default; turn on “case sensitive” to treat uppercase and lowercase as different.
Numeric sorting uses the first number found in each line. Negative numbers such as -3 are supported and “.” is the decimal separator, so “1,5” is read as 1 and “1,250” as 1, not as 1.5 or 1250. Lines without any number are placed at the end. Length sorting counts visible characters, so an emoji counts as one, and lines of equal length are ordered alphabetically.
Reverse mode simply flips the original order without comparing lines, so the direction setting does not apply. Empty lines are removed by default, and duplicates can be removed in the same step; to remove duplicates without changing the order, use the Duplicate Line Remover instead.
Frequently asked questions
Why does “file10” come after “file2”?
Alphabetical mode uses natural ordering, which compares numbers inside text by their value instead of digit by digit. Most people expect this order for file names and versions.
Can I sort numbers that use a comma as the decimal separator?
Not directly. Numeric mode reads “.” as the decimal separator. Replace decimal commas with periods first, or the part after the comma is ignored.
Will sorting change the text of my lines?
No. Lines are only reordered. The only lines removed are empty ones (when that option is on) and duplicates (when you enable it).
Can I sort by a specific column of a CSV?
No. Each line is sorted as a whole. In numeric mode, the first number in the line decides its position.