Which sort mode to use
| Mode | Given item10, item2, Item1 | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Alphabetical | Item1, item10, item2 | Names, words, tags — a plain dictionary-style order. Turn on case-insensitive to stop capitals jumping the queue. |
| Natural | Item1, item2, item10 | Filenames, version numbers, chapter labels, anything with a number that should count as a number. |
| Numeric | parses the leading number; non-numbers sort last | A pasted column of scores, prices, IDs, or measurements. |
| By length | shortest first | Grouping short codes, usernames, or slugs; spotting the one outlier long row. |
| Reverse current order | last item becomes first | Flipping a log or changelog without sorting it — keeps the existing order, just upside down. |
| Shuffle | random each time | Randomising raffle entries, quiz questions, or draw order with a Fisher-Yates shuffle. |
Alphabetical order tool
For a glossary, a reading list, a guest list or bibliography entries, paste one item per line and keep Alphabetical with Dictionary order. Comparisons use the browser’s locale-aware localeCompare, so accented words land next to their base letter (éclair beside eclair, not after z). Tick Ignore leading “The”, “A”, “An” to file “The Hobbit” under H, the way libraries and shops alphabetize titles. Choose Descending for Z to A.
Word sorter: alphabetize the words in a text
Switch to Sort words to split a sentence or paragraph on spaces and line breaks and return the words in order, separated by single spaces — “the quick brown fox” becomes “brown fox quick the”. Combine it with Remove duplicates and Case-insensitive to get a sorted vocabulary list of every distinct word. Sort comma-separated does the same for red, green, blue style lists and keeps the comma separators.
Natural sort vs lexical sort
A lexical (alphabetical) sort walks both strings one character at a time and stops at the first difference. Because the digit 1 has a lower code point than 2, "file10" is judged smaller than "file2" — correct for characters, wrong for humans. Natural sort splits each line into alternating text and number chunks and compares the number chunks as integers, so file2 precedes file10. It is the same rule Finder, Explorer, and ls -v use. If your lines have no digits, natural and alphabetical sorts produce the same result.
Locale, case and code-point order
Case is the common surprise. With Code point / ASCII comparison — what a plain JavaScript sort() or the Unix sort command with LC_ALL=C does — an uppercase Z (code point 90) sorts before a lowercase a (code point 97), so "Zoo" comes before "apple". Dictionary order interleaves capitals with lowercase letters, and turning on Case-insensitive folds case completely, giving the order most people expect. The duplicate check follows the same setting — case-insensitive means Cat and cat are treated as one item.
Questions
How do I put a list in alphabetical order?
Paste the list with one item per line. The Alphabetical (A to Z) mode sorts it instantly; choose Descending for Z to A, and tick Case-insensitive so capitalised items are not grouped first.
How do I sort the words in a sentence alphabetically?
Choose Sort words. The text is split on spaces and line breaks and the words are returned in alphabetical order, separated by single spaces.
What is the difference between natural sort and alphabetical sort?
Alphabetical sort compares character by character, so item10 comes before item2. Natural sort reads digit runs as whole numbers and orders item1, item2, item10. Use it for filenames and version strings.
Why does uppercase sort before lowercase?
A code-point sort ranks A-Z below a-z, so Zebra beats apple. Use Dictionary order or switch on case-insensitive to get dictionary order.
Does descending just reverse the ascending result?
For alphabetical, natural, numeric, and length sorts, yes. “Reverse current order” is separate — it flips your items as pasted, with no sorting.
How are blank lines and duplicates handled?
Everything is kept unless you opt in. “Remove blank lines” drops empty or whitespace-only lines; “Remove duplicates” keeps the first occurrence of each item.
Is my text uploaded anywhere?
No. Sorting runs in your browser. Nothing is sent to a server, so private lists are safe.