What is Sort Text Lines?

Sort Text Lines is a powerful text processing tool that organizes lines of text in various orders. Whether you need to sort a list alphabetically, arrange items by length, randomize entries for a contest, or reverse the order of your data, this tool handles it all with a single click.

Real-time processing: As you type or paste text, lines are instantly sorted based on your selected mode. You see the results immediately without clicking any buttons.

Available Sort Modes

Choose from eight different sorting options to organize your text exactly how you need:

A → Z

Alphabetical ascending order (apple, banana, cherry)

Z → A

Alphabetical descending order (cherry, banana, apple)

Numeric 1 → 9

Sort by number value (1, 2, 10, 20 instead of 1, 10, 2, 20)

Numeric 9 → 1

Reverse numeric order for descending values

Short → Long

Sort by line length, shortest first

Long → Short

Sort by line length, longest first

Random

Shuffle lines in random order using Fisher-Yates algorithm

Reverse

Flip the order without sorting (last becomes first)

Who Should Use This Tool?

This tool is valuable for anyone who works with lists and text data:

Developers

Perfect for organizing code and data:

Sort configuration files
Arrange import statements
Organize test data sets

Content Creators

Streamline content organization:

Alphabetize keyword lists
Organize content outlines
Sort reference materials

Data Analysts

Prepare data efficiently:

Prepare lists for processing
Organize comparison data
Clean duplicate entries

Teachers & Students

Educational applications:

Create sorted vocabulary lists
Organize reference materials
Prepare study guides

Event Organizers

Manage participants easily:

Randomize participant lists
Create drawing assignments
Organize attendee data

General Users

Everyday text organization:

Sort shopping lists
Organize to-do items
Arrange any text data

Your Data Stays Private

All text processing happens entirely in your browser, ensuring maximum privacy and security:

No Uploads

Your text never leaves your device. Everything processes locally.

No Server Processing

All operations run in JavaScript within your browser.

No Tracking

We don't collect any usage data or text content.

No Storage

Nothing is saved after you close the page (except preference settings).

Safe for sensitive data: This makes the tool perfect for processing passwords, personal information, confidential lists, or any sensitive text content.

Table of Contents

1. What is Sort Text Lines?
2. How to Sort Text Lines
3. Features
4. Frequently Asked Questions

How to Sort Text Lines

Sorting your text is quick and straightforward. Follow these simple steps to organize your content:

Enter Your Text

Paste your text into the input area on the left, or type directly. Each line will be treated as a separate item to sort. The tool processes your input in real-time, so you'll see results immediately as you type.

You can also click the Paste button to quickly paste text from your clipboard.

Choose Sort Mode

Select how you want the lines sorted:

A → Z — Standard alphabetical order
Z → A — Reverse alphabetical order
Numeric 1 → 9 — Sort by the first number found in each line (useful for numbered lists)
Numeric 9 → 1 — Reverse numeric order
Short → Long — Shortest lines first
Long → Short — Longest lines first
Random — Shuffle lines randomly
Reverse — Simply flip the order (last becomes first)

Apply Options (Optional)

Fine-tune the sorting behavior with these powerful options:

Case — Choose between "Sensitive" (A ≠ a) or "Insensitive" (A = a)
Trim — Remove leading and trailing whitespace from each line
No Empty — Remove blank lines from the output
Unique — Remove duplicate lines while sorting

Get Your Results

The sorted lines appear in the output area on the right. You can:

Click Copy to copy the results to your clipboard
Click Download to save as a text file
Check the statistics to see total lines, result count, and removed lines

Tips for Better Results

Numeric Sorting

Use Numeric sort when your lines contain numbers you want ordered naturally (item1, item2, item10 instead of item1, item10, item2)

Clean Whitespace

Enable Trim when working with data that has inconsistent spacing or formatting

Remove Duplicates

Combine Unique + Sort to get a clean, sorted list without duplicate entries

Multiple Shuffles

Use Random multiple times to get different shuffled orders for contests or selections

Length Analysis

Try Length sort to quickly find the shortest or longest entries in your list

Combine Options

Mix multiple options like Trim + No Empty + Unique for comprehensive data cleaning

Features

Real-Time Processing

Unlike tools that require you to click a button, this tool processes your text as you type. Lines are sorted instantly, giving you immediate feedback. The debounced processing ensures smooth performance even with rapid typing or large inputs.

Instant feedback: See your results update in real-time as you type or paste content, with optimized performance for large datasets.

Multiple Sort Modes

Eight comprehensive sorting modes cover virtually every text organization need:

Alphabetical (A-Z, Z-A)

Standard dictionary-style sorting for text content:

Case-sensitive or insensitive options
Locale-aware comparison
Special character handling

Numeric (1-9, 9-1)

Intelligent number detection:

Sorts 10 after 9, not after 1
Extracts first number from each line
Perfect for version numbers

By Length

Organize lines from shortest to longest or vice versa:

Character count-based sorting
Find shortest/longest entries
Useful for content analysis

Random & Reverse

Alternative ordering methods:

Fisher-Yates shuffle algorithm
Truly random distribution
Simple order reversal

Case Sensitivity Control

Toggle between case-sensitive and case-insensitive sorting to match your specific needs:

Case Sensitive

Treats Case Differently

Uppercase letters sort separately from lowercase
Useful for code or technical data
"Apple" ≠ "apple"

Case Insensitive

Ignores Case

Treats uppercase and lowercase as equivalent
Better for general text sorting
"Apple" = "apple"

Whitespace Trimming

The Trim option removes leading and trailing spaces from each line before sorting. This ensures consistent results when working with data from different sources that may have inconsistent formatting.

Data cleaning: Trimming is especially useful when importing data from spreadsheets, databases, or copy-pasting from various sources.

Empty Line Removal

Enable "No Empty" to automatically remove blank lines from your output. This is helpful when cleaning up lists that have extra spacing or when preparing data for import into other applications.

Duplicate Removal

The "Unique" option removes duplicate lines while sorting. Combined with case-insensitive mode, it treats "Hello" and "hello" as duplicates. This is perfect for cleaning up lists without needing a separate deduplication step.

Powerful combination: Use Unique + Case Insensitive + Trim for comprehensive data deduplication that ignores case and whitespace differences.

Live Statistics

The statistics bar shows real-time metrics to help you understand your data:

Total Lines

Number of lines in your input text

Result Count

Number of lines in the sorted output

Removed Lines

Empty lines + duplicates removed

Line Numbers

Both input and output areas display line numbers that scroll in sync with the text. This makes it easy to reference specific lines and verify the sorting is correct.

Easy Export Options

Get your results quickly with multiple export methods:

Copy button — One-click copy to clipboard
Download button — Save as a .txt file named "sorted-lines.txt"
Keyboard shortcuts — Ctrl+Shift+C to copy, Ctrl+Shift+X to clear

Preference Persistence

Your chosen sort mode, case setting, and option preferences are saved locally in your browser. When you return to the tool, your preferred settings are automatically restored, saving you time and ensuring consistency.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does alphabetical sorting work?

Alphabetical sorting compares lines character by character using the standard locale comparison. Special characters and numbers typically sort before letters. In case-insensitive mode, uppercase and lowercase letters are treated as equivalent during comparison.

What's the difference between A-Z sort and Numeric sort?

A-Z sort compares lines as text strings. This means "10" comes before "2" because "1" is less than "2" as a character.

Numeric sort extracts the first number from each line and compares them as actual numbers, so 2 correctly comes before 10.

Use Numeric sort when: Your lines contain version numbers, quantities, numbered items, or any data where mathematical order matters.

What if a line doesn't contain a number?

In Numeric sort mode, lines without numbers are treated as having a value of 0. They'll appear at the beginning (ascending) or end (descending) of the sorted output.

How does Random shuffle work?

The tool uses the Fisher-Yates shuffle algorithm, which provides a statistically uniform random distribution. Each time you switch to Random mode or make any change, the lines are reshuffled.

This is suitable for contests, random selection, or any use case requiring unbiased randomization.

What does Reverse do?

Reverse simply flips the order of lines without sorting them. The last line becomes first, second-to-last becomes second, and so on. It's useful when you want to quickly invert a list's order while preserving the relative positions.

How does Length sorting work?

Length sorting counts the characters in each line and orders them by that count. In "Short → Long" mode, single-character lines come first, followed by progressively longer lines.

This is helpful for finding the shortest or longest entries in a list, or analyzing content length distribution.

Can I combine options?

Yes, all options work together seamlessly. Here are some powerful combinations:

Sort A-Z + Case Insensitive + Unique — Get an alphabetized list of unique items ignoring case
Sort by Length + Trim + No Empty — See your shortest content after cleaning up whitespace and blanks
Numeric sort + Unique — Get unique numbers in numerical order
Any sort + Trim + No Empty + Unique — Comprehensive data cleaning and organization

Is there a line or character limit?

There's no hard limit imposed by the tool. The practical limit depends on your browser's memory. Most modern browsers can handle hundreds of thousands of lines without issues.

Performance optimized: The tool uses debounced processing to maintain smooth performance even with large datasets.

Why are empty lines being removed?

Empty lines are only removed if you enable the "No Empty" option. By default, empty lines are preserved and sorted along with other content.

Are my preferences saved?

Yes, your sort mode, case setting, trim, empty line, and unique options are saved in your browser's local storage. They're automatically restored when you return to the tool.

This ensures a consistent experience and saves you time by remembering your preferred settings.

Is my data sent to a server?

No. All processing happens locally in your browser. Your text is never uploaded, stored, or transmitted anywhere.

100% Private: This makes the tool completely safe for sensitive data like passwords, personal information, or confidential lists.

Can I use keyboard shortcuts?

Yes. The following shortcuts are available for faster workflow:

Ctrl+V (in input area) — Paste text
Ctrl+Shift+C — Copy output to clipboard
Ctrl+Shift+X — Clear all input and output

What file format is downloaded?

The download button saves your sorted lines as a plain text file (.txt) named "sorted-lines.txt". Each line in the output becomes a line in the file, maintaining the exact sorting and formatting you see on screen.