Text Sorter
Sort lines of text alphabetically, numerically, or by length.
How to Use
- Enter or paste your text in the text area above (one item per line)
- Choose your sorting preferences:
- Toggle "Reverse order" to sort in descending order
- Toggle "Case sensitive" to consider letter case during alphabetical sorting
- Click one of the sorting buttons to arrange your text:
- Sort Alphabetically: A-Z or Z-A order
- Sort Numerically: Lowest to highest or highest to lowest
- Sort by Length: Shortest to longest or longest to shortest
- Use "Copy to Clipboard" to save the sorted text, or "Clear" to start over
Related Tools
About Text Sorting
Sorting Methods
- Alphabetical: Arranges text lines based on alphabetical order
- Numerical: Sorts lines based on numerical values at the beginning of each line
- Length: Orders lines by their character count, from shortest to longest
- Reverse Order: Inverts the sort order for any sorting method
- Case Sensitivity: Determines whether uppercase and lowercase are treated differently
Common Applications
- Organizing data lists and spreadsheet entries
- Arranging bibliographies and reference lists
- Sorting programming code elements
- Organizing file and folder lists
- Prioritizing items in a to-do list
- Standardizing content in databases
- Creating dictionaries and glossaries
Frequently Asked Questions
What sorting options are available?
The text sorter offers multiple sorting methods: Alphabetical (A-Z), Reverse Alphabetical (Z-A), Numerical (for lines containing numbers), Reverse Numerical, Length-based (shortest to longest), and Reverse Length (longest to shortest). You can also choose case-sensitive or case-insensitive sorting.
How does case-sensitive vs case-insensitive sorting work?
Case-sensitive sorting treats uppercase and lowercase letters as different characters, where uppercase letters typically come before lowercase (A < a). Case-insensitive sorting treats "Apple" and "apple" as equivalent, sorting purely by alphabetical order regardless of capitalization.
Can the tool handle numbers mixed with text?
Yes, the tool handles mixed content well. For alphabetical sorting, numbers typically come before letters. For numerical sorting, the tool attempts to extract and compare numbers from each line. If a line contains multiple numbers, it usually uses the first number it finds.
How does length-based sorting work?
Length-based sorting arranges lines by their character count. The shortest lines appear first (ascending) or last (descending). This is useful for organizing content by complexity, finding the shortest/longest entries, or creating visual patterns in text layout.
Will empty lines and spaces be preserved?
Empty lines are preserved and will appear at the beginning of the sorted output (for ascending sorts) since they have zero length. Leading and trailing spaces within lines are maintained, but they affect the sorting order, especially for length-based sorting.
Can I sort very large amounts of text?
Yes, the tool can handle large amounts of text efficiently since processing happens in your browser. However, very large files (thousands of lines) might take a moment to process. The tool is optimized for typical use cases like lists, data sets, and document organization.
What happens to duplicate lines during sorting?
Duplicate lines are preserved - the tool doesn't remove duplicates, it just sorts them. All identical lines will appear together in the sorted output. If you want to remove duplicates, you can use a duplicate removal tool after sorting.
How does numerical sorting handle different number formats?
Numerical sorting recognizes standard number formats including integers, decimals, and negative numbers. It treats "10" as larger than "2" (proper numerical order) rather than alphabetical order where "10" would come before "2". Mixed letters and numbers are handled by extracting the numerical parts.
Can I reverse the sort order after sorting?
Yes, you can choose ascending or descending order for any sorting method. Alternatively, you can sort in one direction and then switch to the reverse option to flip the order. The tool processes the entire text each time, so you can easily experiment with different orders.
Is my text data uploaded to any server?
No, all sorting happens entirely in your browser. Your text never leaves your device, ensuring complete privacy and security. This also means the tool works offline once the page is loaded, and processing is fast since there's no network communication involved.
What file formats can I sort?
The tool works with plain text content. You can paste text from any source - CSV files, lists, documents, code files, or any other text format. Each line is treated as a separate item to be sorted. For structured data like CSV, consider the column you want to sort by.
Can I maintain the original line order while sorting subsets?
This tool sorts all lines globally. If you need to sort specific sections while maintaining others, you would need to copy those sections separately, sort them, and then reassemble your text. The tool treats each line as an independent item for sorting purposes.