Sort Text Lines
Sort lines of text alphabetically, numerically, by length, or randomly. Reverse order, shuffle, and clean up your lists instantly.
Free Online Text Line Sorter
Need to alphabetize a list, sort data by length, or shuffle lines randomly? SmarterSources' Sort Text Lines tool gives you seven powerful sorting modes to organize any text. Whether you are sorting a list of names, ordering URLs, arranging data entries, or randomizing quiz questions, this tool handles it all instantly. Everything runs 100% in your browser — your text is never sent to any server.
Sorting Modes Explained
A → Z (Alphabetical Ascending) sorts lines from A to Z using locale-aware comparison, handling accented characters correctly. Z → A (Alphabetical Descending) is the reverse, sorting from Z to A. Shortest First orders lines by character count from shortest to longest, while Longest First does the opposite. Numeric Sort intelligently sorts lines that begin with numbers, placing 2 before 10 (unlike basic alphabetical sorting). Random Shuffle uses the Fisher-Yates algorithm for a truly unbiased random arrangement. Reverse Lines simply flips the order of lines without sorting.
Options for Fine-Tuning
Case Insensitive Sort treats uppercase and lowercase letters as equal when sorting, so "apple" and "Apple" sort together. Trim Whitespace removes leading and trailing spaces from each line before sorting, preventing invisible characters from affecting sort order. Remove Empty Lines strips out blank lines from the output for a cleaner result.
Common Use Cases
Teachers alphabetize class rosters and reading lists. Developers sort configuration files and import statements. Data analysts organize exported columns and clean up datasets. Content creators randomize quiz questions and raffle entries. Researchers sort bibliographies and reference lists. The tool works with any text where you need consistent, reliable ordering.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between alphabetical sort and numeric sort?
Alphabetical sort compares lines character by character, which means "10" comes before "2" because "1" comes before "2" in character order. Numeric sort extracts the leading number from each line and sorts by its numeric value, so 2 correctly comes before 10. Use numeric sort when your lines contain numbers you want ordered by magnitude.
How does the random shuffle work?
The random shuffle uses the Fisher-Yates (Knuth) algorithm, which is the gold standard for unbiased random permutations. Each possible ordering has an equal probability of being selected. Click the shuffle button multiple times to get different random arrangements.
Can I sort by a specific column or field within each line?
This tool sorts by the entire line content. For column-specific sorting, you would need to extract the column first, sort it, and then reassemble the data. For simple use cases, the tool's alphabetical and numeric sorting work well with structured data where the sort key appears at the beginning of each line.
What happens to lines that have the same content?
Duplicate lines are preserved in the output. The sort is stable, meaning lines with identical content maintain their original relative order. If you want to remove duplicates, use the Remove Duplicate Lines tool after sorting.
Does the tool handle Unicode and international characters?
Yes. The alphabetical sort uses JavaScript's localeCompare function, which correctly handles accented characters, Unicode symbols, and international alphabets. Characters like e, a, and u are sorted in their linguistically correct positions.
Is my text private?
Absolutely. All sorting happens entirely in your browser using JavaScript. Your text never leaves your device. SmarterSources does not collect, store, or transmit any of the text you enter into this tool.