List alphabetizer

Put any list in alphabetical order

Paste a list, choose A–Z or Z–A, and the list alphabetizer sorts every line for you. It's perfect for names, glossaries, bibliographies, keyword lists, product names, tags and anything else that's easier to scan in order.

Sorting by hand is slow and it's easy to miss an item. This tool sorts the whole list instantly and keeps each line intact.

Combine it with the other list tools to dedupe, reformat or reverse your data.

How to use the list alphabetizer

1. Paste your list with one item per line.
2. Choose A–Z or Z–A.
3. Submit to sort.
4. Copy the sorted list.

Examples

Mixed case, numbers and accents (A–Z)

Input:

banana
Apple
cherry
Éclair
10 apples
2 pears

zebra

Output:

10 apples
2 pears
Apple
banana
cherry
zebra
Éclair

Numbers come first and "10" sorts before "2" because lines are compared character by character. Capitalized lines sort before lowercase ones, and accented capitals like É land after z.

The same list Z–A

Input:

banana
Apple
cherry
Éclair

Output:

Éclair
cherry
banana
Apple

Z–A is the exact reverse of the A–Z order, quirks included.

Names with surnames first

Input:

Smith, Anna
García, Luis
brown, Tom

Output:

García, Luis
Smith, Anna
brown, Tom

The lowercase "brown" is sorted after every capitalized name. Fix the capital letter and it moves to the top.

Common uses

• Alphabetizing names for class lists, guest lists or credits.
• Sorting references and bibliographies.
• Organizing keyword and tag lists.
• Ordering glossary terms or product catalogs.
• Making long lists easier to search by eye.

Tips and things to know

• Upper- and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols can affect the order. Make case consistent with the case converter first for the cleanest result.
• Remove repeats with the duplicate lines remover.
• To flip the current order without sorting, use reverse list.
• Bibliography styles sort by author surname. Put the surname first on each line if needed.

Edge cases and limitations

• Sorting is case-sensitive: every line starting with a capital comes before every lowercase line. Lowercase the list first if you want a dictionary-style order.
• Accented first letters (Á, É, Ñ, Ö) sort after z. For Spanish, French or German lists, check those entries by hand.
• Empty lines, and lines containing only 0, are removed.
• Leading spaces count as characters and push a line to the top.
• Very long lists sort instantly, but the comparison is still character by character, so "Item 10" comes before "Item 9". Pad numbers (Item 09) for a natural order.

Frequently asked questions

How do I alphabetize a list?

Paste it with one item per line, choose A–Z, and submit.

Can I sort in reverse alphabetical order?

Yes. Choose Z–A.

How are numbers sorted?

Lines are compared as text, so 10 may come before 2. Pad numbers with zeros (02, 10) if you need numeric order.

Does it remove duplicates?

No. Use the duplicate lines remover for that.

Why do lowercase items appear after all the capitalized ones?

The sort compares character codes, and every capital letter has a lower code than every lowercase letter. Making the case consistent first gives a normal A–Z order.

Related tools

• Duplicate lines remover: Easily remove duplicate lines from a text.
• Reverse list: Reverse a list of given text lines.
• List randomizer: Easily convert a list of given text into a randomized list.
• Text separator: Separate text back and forth by new lines, commas, dots, etc.
• Case converter: Convert your text to any kind of text case, such as lowercase, UPPERCASE, camelCase, etc.