Sort Lines Alphabetically
Alphabetize lists in ascending or descending order.
Sort Lines Alphabetically
Sort Lines Alphabetically puts any list into A to Z or Z to A order. Paste the list, pick a direction, copy the result.
How to use it
- Paste your list, one item per line.
- Choose A to Z or Z to A.
- Copy the sorted result.
Why sorted output sometimes looks wrong
Naive alphabetical sorting compares character codes, and in that scheme every uppercase letter comes before every lowercase one. Z sorts before a, so a mixed-case list can look shuffled rather than sorted.
Numbers inside text cause the other surprise. Character-by-character comparison puts item10 before item2, because it compares the 1 against the 2 and stops there. That is correct lexicographic ordering and almost never what you wanted.
Worked example
A mixed list sorted by character code:
- Inputbanana, Apple, cherry, Date
- ResultApple, Date, banana, cherry
Result: All capitalised entries sort ahead of all lowercase ones, which surprises most people the first time.
When it helps
- Alphabetising a list of names, tags or references.
- Putting an import or export file in a predictable order.
- Making two lists comparable before diffing them.
- Tidying a bibliography or glossary.
Common mistakes
- Sorting a list with inconsistent capitalisation and expecting dictionary order.
- Sorting numbered items and expecting numeric order. Ten will land next to one.
- Sorting data that has a header line, which gets sorted into the middle with everything else.
