How do I sort lines alphabetically?

Paste one item per line, choose A to Z or Z to A, then copy the sorted output.

How do I sort numbers correctly?

Use numeric ascending or numeric descending. Numeric sorting compares number values, so 2 comes before 10.

What is natural sort?

Natural sort handles mixed text and numbers in a human-friendly way, so item2 appears before item10.

Why does alphabetical sort put item10 before item2?

Alphabetical sorting compares characters from left to right, so item10 can come before item2 because the character 1 is compared before 2.

Can I remove duplicate lines while sorting?

Yes. Enable remove duplicate lines to keep one copy of repeated lines before sorting.

Can I remove blank lines?

Yes. Enable remove empty lines to exclude blank or whitespace-only lines from the output.

Can I preserve the first line as a header?

Yes. Header mode keeps the first line fixed at the top and sorts only the remaining lines.

Does this tool upload my text?

No. Sorting happens locally in your browser.

Can I paste the sorted result into Excel or Google Sheets?

Yes. The output is plain text, so you can copy it into spreadsheets, documents, forms, or code editors.

Sort Text Lines | BlinkCalc.

Input text

Paste names, numbers, keywords, URLs, IDs, spreadsheet rows, or any one-item-per-line list. Need to sort dates or CSV rows by a column? Use the Data Sorter.

Sorted output

7
42
100
apple
Apple
Banana
banana
item1
item2
item10
Name
orange
pear

Natural sort keeps item2 before item10. Numeric sort is different from alphabetical sort.

Sort mode

Line ending

Original order changes when sorting is applied. Header mode keeps the first line fixed.

Sorted output preview

7 42 100 apple Apple Banana banana item1 item2 item10 Name orange pear

Input lines

14

Total lines before cleanup.

Output lines

13

Lines after sorting and cleanup.

Sort mode

Natural sort

Selected comparison method.

Blank lines removed

1

Removed only when enabled.

Duplicates removed

0

Removed only when enabled.

Header preserved

No

First line fixed at the top.

Case-sensitive

Off

Controls text comparison.

Numeric warnings

0

Invalid numeric lines.

Local sorting

Lines are sorted in your browser and are not uploaded. No account is needed.

Cleanup controls

Trim lines, remove blanks, remove duplicates, and preserve headers.

Copy-ready output

Copy or download sorted plain text for spreadsheets, forms, or editors.

How Text Line Sorting Works

1. The input is split into lines. Windows (CRLF), Unix (LF) and old Mac (CR) line breaks are all recognized.
2. If trimming is on, leading and trailing spaces are removed from every line, including the first.
3. If header mode is on, the first line is set aside. It is never sorted and is not affected by blank-line or duplicate removal.
4. If removing empty lines is on, blank and whitespace-only lines are dropped.
5. If removing duplicates is on, only the first copy of each repeated line is kept.
6. The remaining lines are sorted using the selected mode.
7. The header, if any, is put back on top and the lines are joined with the selected line ending.

Alphabetical, Numeric, Natural, and Length Sorting Explained

Alphabetical

Compares lines as text, so item10 comes before item2.

Numeric

Compares number values, including decimals and negatives. Commas are accepted only as thousands separators (1,234 or 12,345.67); lines such as 1,5 or 1,2,3 are flagged as non-numeric and placed at the end.

Natural

Compares runs of digits as numbers, so item2 comes before item10.

Length

Compares how many characters each line contains. Lines of equal length are ordered A to Z.

Case, Whitespace, Duplicates, and Blank Lines Explained

Case-sensitive sort does not put capitals first. Lines still sort alphabetically; when two lines differ only by case, the lowercase one usually comes first (apple, Apple, banana, Banana).

With case-sensitive sort off, Apple and apple are treated as equal and keep their original order. This setting also decides whether they count as duplicates.

Leading spaces can affect exact alphabetical order, so trimming makes messy lists sort more cleanly.

Blank lines can be preserved or removed.

Duplicate lines are removed only when the duplicate option is enabled. The first copy is kept.

Header preservation is useful for spreadsheet column labels.

Line endings can be preserved or changed to LF or CRLF in copied and downloaded output.

Random shuffle reorders lines without sorting. Use Shuffle Again for a new order without editing the input.

Common Line-Sorting Examples

Names A to Z

A to Z

Input

Charlie
alice
Bob

Output

alice
Bob
Charlie

Numbers ascending

Numeric ascending

Input

Output

Natural sort

Input

item10
item2
item1

Output

item1
item2
item10

Length sort

Length ascending

Input

orange
a
cat

Output

a
cat
orange

Reverse text sort

Z to A

Input

apple
zebra
pear

Output

zebra
pear
apple

Remove blanks

A to Z, remove empty lines

Input

banana

apple
   
orange

Output

apple
banana
orange

Preserve header

A to Z, preserve first line

Input

Name
Bob
Alice

Output

Name
Alice
Bob

Deduplicate

A to Z, remove duplicates

Input

pear
apple
Pear
apple

Output

apple
pear

Frequently Asked Questions

A text line sorter takes text with one item per line and rearranges those lines using a selected order such as A to Z, numeric, natural, length, or random shuffle.