Sort Lines Alphabetically

How to sort your list

1. Paste or type the list into Your list (one item per line), or use Open file for a .txt or .csv file. Example loads a short test list.
2. Pick a mode in Sort by. The result updates as you type or change an option.
3. Tick Descending for Z–A, largest first or longest first.
4. Leave Remove empty lines on (the default) and tick Remove duplicates if repeats should go.
5. Click Copy, or Use as input to keep working on the sorted list, for example with the line numbering tool.

The six sort modes

Alphabetical sorting uses your browser’s built-in collation for your language setting, so it follows dictionary order rather than computer code order. “Zebra” no longer lands before “apple” just because it starts with a capital, and “Éclair” sorts with the E words instead of after Z.

Options and how they combine

Duplicates are compared after trimming the ends and collapsing repeated spaces, so New York, new york and New York count as one line, and the first one in your list is the one kept, spelled as you typed it. For a duplicate remover that keeps your original order, use Remove duplicate lines.

Rules and edge cases

• Ties keep your order. When two lines compare as equal (with case ignored, “Apple” and “apple” do), they stay in the order you entered them. Descending reverses everything, ties included.
• Empty lines go to the top. With Remove empty lines off, blank lines sort before everything else in ascending order.
• Leading spaces count. A line that starts with spaces sorts before the letters. Tick Ignore leading quotes, bullets and symbols to skip them.
• Punctuation before digits before letters. In Alphabetical mode _under and !bang come before 123, which comes before abc.
• Number at the start reads only a number that opens the line. Spaces and one of ( [ " ' # $ € £ ¥ may come before it, so $1,250, #2 and (5) all count. A minus or plus sign directly before the digits counts (-3, −1), commas are read as thousands separators (1,200) and a decimal part is read (7.5). Lines that do not start with a number, such as Room 3, item-5 or version 1.9, go after the numbered lines in both directions (A–Z, or Z–A with Descending); use Natural for those. A date such as 2024-10-21 report is read as 2024.
• Bullets need the ignore-leading option; signs may come before a currency symbol. With Ignore leading quotes, bullets and symbols ticked, Number at the start skips bullets followed by a space, so 1 kiwi, * 3 figs, - 5 pears, • 12 apples sort as 1, 3, 5, 12. Without it, - 5 pears and • 12 apples count as lines without a number. A sign before the currency symbol counts in either case: -$5 refund sorts before −€3 and $10.
• Natural ignores minus signs and decimal points. It reads -10 as 10 and 1.25 as 1 and 25. For signed numbers and decimals, use Number at the start.
• Line length counts characters as you see them. An emoji such as 👍🏽 counts as one character.
• Line endings. Windows, Mac and Unix line breaks are all accepted; the result uses plain line feeds.

Worked examples

The tool’s sample list with the default settings, then with Natural and Remove duplicates:

Chapter titles, Alphabetical compared with Natural:

Alphabetical      Natural
Appendix          Appendix
Chapter 1         Chapter 1
Chapter 10        Chapter 2
Chapter 11        Chapter 10
Chapter 2         Chapter 11

A price list with Number at the start and Descending:

$1,250 laptop
$399 monitor
$89 headphones
$15 cable

An email list with Remove duplicates (case ignored): [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] becomes [email protected], [email protected], [email protected].

When people need it

• Alphabetizing a list for Word, Google Docs or a notes app. Copy the list out, sort it here and paste it back. Bullets pasted as text (•, -, *) are handled by the ignore-leading option. For more ways to do it, see the guide how to alphabetize a list.
• Cleaning an export. Email addresses, tags or product names from a CRM or spreadsheet usually contain repeats and blank rows; tick Remove duplicates and keep Remove empty lines on.
• File names and chapters. Natural mode orders IMG_2.jpg before IMG_10.jpg.
• Keyword and hashtag lists. Sort by length to find the longest phrases, or alphabetically to spot near-duplicates sitting next to each other.
• Preparing code or data. Sort values, then join them with the comma separator for an SQL IN (...) list or a CSV row.
• Random order for drawing names or mixing quiz questions; to pick just one or a few lines, use the random line picker.

The tool sorts whole lines by their beginning. It does not sort by a column, by the last word, or skip words such as “The”; to sort a list of names by surname, write them as “Last, First” first.

Questions