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Sort Lines A→Z Sort lines of text alphabetically from A to Z.

Sort Lines A→Z illustration
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Sort Lines A→Z

Sort lines of text alphabetically from A to Z.

1

Paste Lines

Paste text with one item per line to sort.

2

Set Case Sensitivity

Toggle case-sensitive sorting if needed.

3

View Sorted Lines

See lines sorted alphabetically A to Z.

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What Is Sort Lines A→Z?

A Sort Lines A→Z is a text processing tool that sorts all lines of text alphabetically from A to Z using locale-aware string comparison. Developers and data analysts use it to organize lists, clean up data, sort names, order entries, and prepare text for further processing. One specific problem it solves is sorting large amounts of unstructured text data into a readable format, making it easier to review and analyze.

The tool's ability to perform case-sensitive and case-insensitive sorting makes it useful in different scenarios. For instance, when working with proper nouns or names, case-sensitive sorting may be required to maintain the original capitalization. It features a checkbox that allows users to toggle between these two modes, giving them control over the sorting behavior.

What sets this tool apart is its implementation of locale-aware string comparison using the `localeCompare` method, which ensures accurate results across different languages and regions. Additionally, it supports sorting lines alphabetically online without requiring any external libraries or complex setup. By using it to sort text lines in alphabetical order, users can efficiently process and organize their data, whether they need to sort a few dozen lines or thousands of entries.

Why Use Sort Lines A→Z?

  • Instant alphabetical sorting of any line-based text
  • Toggle case-sensitive or case-insensitive comparison
  • Locale-aware sorting for international characters
  • Handles thousands of lines quickly
  • No limit on input size

Common Use Cases

List Organization

Alphabetically sort lists of names, items, or entries.

Data Cleaning

Organize CSV or TSV rows to simplify review and spot duplicates.

Glossary Building

Sort dictionary entries or glossary terms alphabetically.

Configuration Files

Keep imports, dependencies, and config entries in consistent alphabetical order.

Technical Guide

The tool's sorting mechanism relies on JavaScript's Array.sort() method, which implements a stable sorting algorithm to ensure that equal elements maintain their original relative order. Under the hood, it uses the String.localeCompare() method for locale-aware alphabetical ordering, allowing it to handle international characters correctly and sort accented characters in their expected positions. When case-insensitive mode is enabled, both strings are converted to lowercase using the toLowerCase() method before comparison, ensuring that the sorting is not affected by differences in capitalization. The use of React's useState hook allows the tool to store the state of the case-sensitive checkbox and update the sorting behavior accordingly.

The onProcess function, which is wrapped in React's useCallback hook to prevent unnecessary re-renders, takes an input string, splits it into lines using the split() method with a newline character ('\n') as the separator, and then sorts the resulting array of lines. The sorted lines are then joined back together into a single string using the join() method with a newline character ('\n') as the separator. This process has a time complexity of O(n log n), where n is the number of lines, making it efficient for sorting large amounts of text data. The tool's implementation does not rely on any external libraries, instead utilizing built-in JavaScript methods and React hooks to provide a lightweight and efficient solution for sorting text lines alphabetically.

Tips & Best Practices

  • 1
    Use case-insensitive mode (default) for most sorting tasks
  • 2
    For reverse order, use the Sort Lines Z→A tool
  • 3
    Sort imports or dependencies alphabetically for cleaner code
  • 4
    Combine with Remove Duplicate Lines to sort and deduplicate in two steps
  • 5
    Empty lines sort to the beginning — remove them first if needed

Related Tools

Frequently Asked Questions

Q Is the sorting case-sensitive by default?
No, it defaults to case-insensitive sorting where "Apple" and "apple" are treated as equal. Toggle the option for case-sensitive sorting.
Q How are numbers sorted?
Numbers are sorted as strings: "10" comes before "2" alphabetically. For numeric sorting, you would need a numeric sort tool.
Q Does it handle international characters?
Yes, it uses locale-aware comparison so accented characters (é, ñ, ü) sort correctly.
Q What happens to blank lines?
Blank lines sort to the top of the list since empty strings come before any character.
Q Is the sort stable?
Yes, lines that compare as equal maintain their original relative order.

About This Tool

Sort Lines A→Z is a free online tool by FreeToolkit.ai. All processing happens directly in your browser — your data never leaves your device. No registration or installation required.