Sort Lines Alphabetically Online: Complete Line Sorter Guide

Want to sort lines alphabetically without opening a spreadsheet? Paste your list into the free PHL Tools Line Sorter and choose A to Z, Z to A, shortest or longest first, or sort by the first number on each line. This complete guide explains all six sort orders, natural sorting (so “item 2” comes before “item 10”), case handling, blank lines and the buttons, with real examples. The sort is stable and runs in your browser, so your list is never uploaded.

What the Line Sorter Does

The Line Sorter takes a list with one item per line and puts the lines in the order you choose. It is perfect for names, keywords, file names, tasks, prices and any list that is easier to use when it is in order.

The sort is stable: when two lines count as equal, they keep the order they had. So nothing is shuffled by accident.

Step by Step: Sort a List

1. Open the Line Sorter.
2. Paste your list into Your lines, one item per line.
3. Choose a Sort order. The result appears at once in Sorted lines.
4. Adjust the options if you need them: ignore case, natural sorting and blank lines.
5. Press Copy result or Download .txt.

pear
Apple
mango
banana
cherry

Apple
banana
cherry
mango
pear

The Six Sort Orders

Alphabetical order follows your browser’s language rules, so accented letters sit next to their base letters. Length counts characters, not bytes.

Natural Sorting: item 2 Before item 10

A plain alphabetical sort compares text character by character, so chapter 10 comes before chapter 2 because “1” is smaller than “2”. That is rarely what a person wants. Tick Natural sorting and numbers inside text are compared as whole numbers.

chapter 10
chapter 2
chapter 1
chapter 21

Without natural sorting:
chapter 1
chapter 10
chapter 2
chapter 21

With natural sorting:
chapter 1
chapter 2
chapter 10
chapter 21

Use it for file names, chapters, lesson numbers, episodes and versions.

Sorting by Number

Choose Number, low to high or Number, high to low to sort by the first number found on each line. Commas used as thousands separators are understood, so 1,200 is read as 1200.

Notebook 1,200
Pen 45
Bag 3,500
Ruler 20

Ruler 20
Pen 45
Notebook 1,200
Bag 3,500

Lines that contain no number are placed after the numbered lines, in alphabetical order.

Sorting by Length

Choose Shortest first or Longest first to sort by the number of characters in each line. This is a quick way to find titles that may be too long for a headline or meta title.

Learn English fast
Hi
Simple tips for writing better
Practice daily

Simple tips for writing better
Learn English fast
Practice daily
Hi

Options: Ignore Case and Blank Lines

• Ignore upper and lower case: on by default. apple and Apple sort together. Untick it to sort capital letters separately. It applies to A to Z and Z to A.
• Natural sorting: off by default. Tick it when your lines contain numbers.
• Blank lines: choose Sort them with the other lines (blank lines go to the top), Remove them, or Move them to the end. Lines containing only spaces count as blank.

The Buttons

• Copy result: copies the sorted list (Ctrl + Enter, or Cmd + Enter on Mac).
• Select result: highlights the output.
• Download .txt: saves the list as a text file.
• Use result as input: moves the sorted list into the input so you can sort it again another way, for example by length after sorting A to Z.
• Paste, Try an example and Clear all work as in the other PHL Tools.

Real-Life Uses

• SEO: alphabetise a keyword list after removing repeats with the Duplicate Line Remover.
• Students and teachers: order name lists and vocabulary lists.
• Shops: sort items by price.
• Writers: find the longest and shortest titles in a content plan.

Tips and Limits

• Use one item per line. Comma-separated lists must be split into lines first.
• Different browsers can order unusual characters slightly differently, including some Urdu characters, so check important lists.
• Your list stays in your browser and is not uploaded.

FAQ

Related tool guides

Duplicate Line RemoverText ReverserWord Counter