Sorting a list without a spreadsheet
Putting a list in order is one of those jobs that is trivial in a spreadsheet and strangely awkward everywhere else. Word buries its sort button, email clients and note apps do not have one at all, and doing it by hand means rewriting the whole list. This tool takes anything with one item per line: names for a register, guests for an invitation list, references, product codes, keywords, file names. Paste, and the sorted version appears instantly; switch between A to Z and Z to A with one click and copy the result back to wherever it came from.
Blank lines are dropped along the way, because a sort would otherwise sweep them all to one end of the list. Everything else about each line, including its spacing and capitalisation, is left exactly as you pasted it. The sorting happens in your browser, so nothing you paste is uploaded or stored.
Numbers sort naturally
Plain character-by-character sorting, the kind file systems used for years, produces the infamous item1, item10, item2 ordering, because the character 1 comes before 2 regardless of what follows it. This tool compares numbers inside lines by their value instead, so counters, versions and quantities come out in the order a person expects. The comparison still starts with the letters, so photo1 and photo2 stay together ahead of scan1, and only the numeric parts are compared by value. If every line in your list is purely a number, the whole sort effectively becomes numeric, smallest first in A to Z and largest first in Z to A.
What ignore case changes
Computers do not naturally agree with dictionaries about the alphabet. In raw character codes every capital letter comes before every lowercase one, so a naive sort puts Zebra above apple. This tool always sorts alphabetically in the dictionary sense, and the Ignore case box, ticked by default, controls only how capitalisation breaks ties: ticked, apple and Apple are treated as identical and keep their pasted order; unticked, identical words are additionally ordered by their capitalisation. For everyday lists you can safely leave the box alone.
Everyday uses
Alphabetical order earns its keep anywhere a list gets scanned by eye. A class register or wedding guest list in name order makes missing entries obvious. A bibliography sorted by author surname is a formatting requirement on most courses; paste the references with the surname first and the sort does the rest. Sorted keyword lists reveal near-duplicates that sit next to each other, and a Z to A sort is handy for anything numbered, putting the highest version or newest file on top. If your list has picked up repeats along the way, run it through the duplicate line remover first, then sort the clean version here.
Frequently asked questions
How are numbers sorted?
Naturally, the way a person would sort them. Lines like item2 and item10 come out as item1, item2, item10 rather than the item1, item10, item2 a plain character sort produces, and all-number lines such as 5, 40 and 100 sort by value. This matters for file names, versions and anything with a counter in it.
What does the ignore case option do?
With the box ticked, capitalisation is ignored while sorting, so apple and Apple sit together. Untick it and capitalisation becomes a tiebreaker for otherwise identical words, though words still sort together alphabetically rather than all capitals first. Ticked is the right choice for almost every everyday list.
What happens to blank lines?
They are removed. A sort would otherwise sweep every blank line to one end of the list, which is never useful, so the tool drops them and returns just your items in order. Spacing inside lines is left exactly as you pasted it.
Can I sort a comma-separated list?
The tool sorts lines, so put each item on its own line first. The quickest way is to paste your text into a word processor and replace each comma with a line break, or simply press Enter after each comma yourself. Once each item has its own line, paste the list here.
Is my list uploaded anywhere?
No. The sorting happens in your browser using JavaScript and your list never leaves your device. Refreshing the page clears everything.