Sort Lines

Sort lines alphabetically, numerically, by length or in reverse order. The sorted list appears live as you paste, so alphabetizing names, ordering numbers by value or flipping a list takes seconds. A case-sensitive switch matches the stricter order that databases and programming languages use.

Built & reviewed by the TurboTeamTools team · Updated September 2026

Lines to sort

Sort order

Case-sensitive

Sorted lines

How to use it

Paste your lines into the box.
Choose a sort order, alphabetical, numeric, by length or reverse.
Copy the sorted result.

What is a text sorter?

A text sorter reorders the lines of a list by a rule you pick. This tool can sort lines alphabetically, by numeric value, by length, or simply reverse the current order.

A to Z: compare lines with language-aware rules, case ignored
Numeric: compare the number each line starts with (parseFloat)
Length: compare character counts; Reverse: flip the list

Alphabetical mode uses your browser's language rules, so an accented letter sorts beside its plain twin instead of after z. Numeric mode reads the value at the start of each line, which is what puts 2 ahead of 10. Blank lines are dropped in every mode, and lines are moved whole, never edited.

Worked example

Input: banana / apple / cherry

→

Result: apple, banana, cherry (A→Z)

How one list orders under each mode

Take the four lines 10, 2, apple and Zebra. Here is how the tool sorts lines under each mode.

Mode	Result	Why
Alphabetical A to Z	10, 2, apple, Zebra	Digits sort before letters, character by character, so 10 beats 2; case is ignored
Alphabetical, case-sensitive	10, 2, Zebra, apple	Raw character codes put every capital before any lowercase letter
Numeric 0 to 9	2, 10, then the words	Values are compared as numbers; keep word lines out of a numeric sort
By length	2, 10, apple, Zebra	1, 2, 5 and 5 characters; equal lengths keep their original order
Reverse current order	Zebra, apple, 2, 10	No sorting at all, the list is flipped top to bottom

Sorting options explained

Alphabetical sorting puts lines in dictionary order using your browser's language rules, so accented letters sort next to their plain versions (é beside e) instead of being dumped at the end the way a raw byte sort would do. By default case is ignored, so Apple and apple sit together. Turn on ‘Case-sensitive’ to sort by raw character code instead, which puts every line that starts with a capital ahead of the lowercase ones (Zebra before apple), the order most programming languages and databases use.

Numbers

Numeric sort reads the number at the start of each line and orders by value, so 2 comes before 10 and 3.5 lands between 3 and 4. A plain alphabetical sort compares character by character and puts 10, 100 and 1000 ahead of 2, which is the classic problem with file names and invoice numbers. Lines that do not begin with a digit have no value to compare, so keep those out of a numeric sort. Prices work only if you remove the currency sign first, since ‘$12’ starts with a symbol rather than a number.

Length and reverse

Sorting by length orders lines from shortest to longest by character count, which is handy for headlines, meta descriptions, or a set of options that must fit a menu. Lines of equal length keep their original order. ‘Reverse current order’ does not sort at all; it just flips the list top to bottom, which turns an A to Z list into Z to A or undoes a paste that arrived backwards.

Blank lines are dropped in every mode. Leading spaces are not trimmed, so a line that starts with a space sorts ahead of the letters; run the list through the remove extra spaces tool first if the indentation was accidental.

Common uses

Alphabetizing names and word lists
Ordering numbers correctly by value
Sorting rows before importing to a spreadsheet
Reversing the order of a list
Putting a bibliography or glossary in order
Sorting file names or version numbers by value

When to use it

You want to sort lines A to Z to alphabetize a list of names online without pasting it into a spreadsheet first.
File or invoice numbers keep sorting as 1, 10, 2 and you need them in true numeric order.
You need to sort lines alphabetically to put a bibliography or glossary in order before handing it in.
A chat log or changelog arrived newest-first and you want it flipped back to chronological order.
A set of headlines should be reviewed shortest to longest to see which fit a menu.

Related tools

Remove Duplicate Lines comes first when the list has repeats; dedupe it there, then sort lines here in any order you need.

Reverse Text flips characters and words, not just whole lines, when the text itself should read backwards.

Remove Extra Spaces trims accidental leading spaces that would otherwise make a line sort ahead of every letter.

Frequently asked questions

Why does numeric sort matter?

Alphabetical order puts 10 before 2 because it compares character by character, and 1 comes before 2. Numeric sort reads the actual number at the start of each line, so 2 correctly comes before 10 and 9 comes before 100. Use it to sort lines where the digits mean a quantity.

Does it remove blank lines?

Yes. Empty lines and lines containing only spaces are dropped in every mode, so the sorted result has no gaps. If you need spacing between groups, add it back after sorting.

Is it case-sensitive?

Not by default: Apple and apple are treated as equal and sort together. Check ‘Case-sensitive’ to switch to character-code order, where every line starting with a capital comes before any starting with a lowercase letter, so Zebra sorts ahead of apple. Use that when you need the same order a database or a programming language would produce.

How do I sort a list alphabetically in Word or Google Docs?

In Word, select the lines and click the Sort button (A to Z icon) in the Paragraph group on the Home tab. Google Docs has no built-in sort for plain paragraphs, only through an add-on, which is why pasting here is quicker. Excel and Sheets both sort columns from the Data menu.

Can it sort by last name?

Not directly; it compares from the first character of each line. Put the last name first (Smith, John) before pasting, or use the find and replace tool with Regex on: find (\w+) (\w+) and replace with $2, $1 to swap two-word names, then sort.

Does it sort decimals and negative numbers?

Yes. Numeric mode reads the full number at the start of the line, so -3, 2.5 and 1000 order correctly by value. Thousands separators are a problem, because 1,000 is read as 1; remove the commas first. Units after the digits, such as 12 kg, are fine.

Does sorting change the text itself?

No. Lines are moved, not edited. Trailing spaces, capitalization and punctuation stay as they were; the only change is that empty lines are removed. To also drop repeated lines, use the remove duplicate lines tool, which has a sort option of its own.