How to Alphabetize a List
- 1. Paste your list into the box above. Put one item per line, or choose "Comma separated" or "Space separated" if your words are on a single line.
- 2. Pick your options. Sort names by surname, skip "The" in titles, or make uppercase and lowercase letters sort separately.
- 3. Click Sort A-Z (or Z-A). Then copy the result with one click.
Sorting Options Explained
- Natural number order: "Chapter 2" comes before "Chapter 10", the way people expect, instead of strict character order.
- Ignore A / An / The: Library-style sorting for book, film and band titles. "The Hobbit" is filed under H.
- Sort by last word: Alphabetize names by last name: "Ada Lovelace" is sorted under L.
- Case sensitive: Uppercase entries are grouped before lowercase ones. Off by default, so "apple" and "Apple" sort together.
- Sort by length: Orders items from shortest to longest, with ties broken alphabetically.
- Remove duplicates: Keeps the first copy of each item (respects the case-sensitive option).
- Number the list: Adds 1., 2., 3. in front of each item after sorting.
Common Uses
- Alphabetizing a bibliography or works-cited page
- Sorting class rosters, guest lists and contact names by last name
- Putting vocabulary and spelling words in ABC order
- Cleaning up keyword lists, tags and spreadsheet columns
- Counting how many items (and duplicates) a list contains
Working in a document or spreadsheet? See how to alphabetize in Word, Excel, Google Docs and Sheets.