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Alphabetical Sorter

Free online alphabetical sorter. Sort lists A–Z or Z–A, by length, or with natural sort. Remove duplicates, trim whitespace, and sort comma or semicolon-separated lists too. No signup required.

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Options

Separator:

How to sort a list alphabetically

  1. Paste your list into the input box on the left — one item per line. The sorted result appears instantly on the right.
  2. Choose a sort direction — A → Z for ascending, Z → A for descending.
  3. Choose a sort method — Alphabetical for standard text, Length to sort by word length, Natural for numbered lists (item1, item2, item10).
  4. Adjust options — trim whitespace, remove empty lines, remove duplicates, and switch between newline, comma, or semicolon separators.
  5. Copy the output with the copy button at the top right of the output panel.

Sort methods explained

Alphabetical sort

apple → banana → cherry → date

Standard lexicographic sort — compares characters left to right. Case-insensitive by default: "Apple" and "apple" sort identically. Enable case-sensitive mode if you need uppercase letters to sort before lowercase (ASCII order: A–Z before a–z).

Length sort

fig → date → apple → banana → cherry

Sorts items from shortest to longest by character count. Items of equal length are then sorted alphabetically as a tiebreaker. Useful for fitting text into character-limited fields or ranking by conciseness.

Natural sort

item1 → item2 → item10 (not item1, item10, item2)

Treats embedded numbers as numeric values rather than character sequences. Standard alphabetical sort gives you item1, item10, item2 because "1" < "10" < "2" as strings. Natural sort gives item1, item2, item10 — which is usually what you expect for file names, version numbers, and numbered lists.

Common uses for alphabetical sorting

Bibliography & references

Most citation styles (APA, MLA, Chicago) require sources sorted A–Z by author surname.

CSV & spreadsheet prep

Sort a column of values before pasting into Excel or Google Sheets to avoid manual sort steps.

Tag & keyword lists

Keep meta keyword lists, CMS tags, or ingredient lists in a consistent order for readability and deduplication.

Navigation & menu items

Alphabetised navigation menus and dropdowns are easier to scan than arbitrarily ordered ones.

Programming & config

Alphabetise import statements, CSS properties, or config keys to reduce merge conflicts and aid code review.

Duplicate detection

Sorting brings duplicate items adjacent, making them easy to spot. Use the Remove duplicates toggle to remove them automatically.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I sort a list alphabetically?

Paste your list into the input box — one item per line. The sorted output appears instantly. Use the A–Z / Z–A toggle to switch direction. You can also sort comma-separated or semicolon-separated lists using the separator options.

What is natural sort and when should I use it?

Natural sort treats numbers inside text as actual numbers rather than characters. For example, alphabetical order gives item1, item10, item2 (because "1" < "2" < "10" as strings). Natural sort gives item1, item2, item10 — which is usually what you want for file names, version numbers, and numbered lists.

Is the sort case-sensitive?

By default the sort is case-insensitive, so "Apple" and "apple" are treated the same. Enable the case-sensitive toggle if you need uppercase items to sort separately from lowercase ones (in ASCII order, uppercase letters come before lowercase).

Can I remove duplicate lines while sorting?

Yes. Enable the "Remove duplicates" option and duplicate lines will be removed before sorting. Duplicate detection is case-insensitive by default — "Apple" and "apple" count as the same item unless you also enable case-sensitive mode.

Can I sort comma-separated or semicolon-separated values?

Yes. Use the separator selector to choose Comma or Semicolon. The output will join items back with the same separator. This is useful for sorting CSV values, tags, or any delimited list without needing a spreadsheet.

Does the sorter handle large lists?

Yes. The sort runs entirely in your browser with no server round-trips, so it handles thousands of lines without any slowdown. There is no enforced limit on list size.

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