Why is my list sorted differently in a spreadsheet?

The spreadsheet is probably comparing character codes rather than applying locale collation, or it is using a different locale. The code-point column shows exactly what the naive order looks like for your data.

What does natural sort do?

It compares runs of digits as numbers, so item2 sorts before item10 and chapter9 before chapter10. Without it, digit sequences are compared one character at a time.

Which sensitivity should I choose for a name list?

Case sensitivity ignores accents and is often the most readable for names, while Base groups all variants of a name together. Variant is the strictest and is the right choice for titles.

How does duplicate removal decide two lines match?

It compares case- and accent-insensitive keys built with the selected locale, so Resume and résumé count as one. The first occurrence is kept and the group is listed.

Are blank lines deleted from my list?

They are excluded from the output, and the tool tells you how many were ignored rather than dropping them quietly.

Locale-Aware Sort Tool

Lines to sort

One item per line

Sort localeCase / accent sensitivity

Natural numbers (item2 before item10)Ignore punctuationRemove duplicatesZ → A

1 blank line ignored.

Sorted

Start typing above — the results update as you write.

Sort a list the way readers of a chosen locale expect, with case and accent sensitivity, natural number ordering, optional punctuation skipping and accent-insensitive duplicate removal — and a code-point column to show why the naive sort disagrees.

What is Locale-Aware Sort Tool?

Sorting a list alphabetically looks like a solved problem until the first accented letter or the first version number appears. The Locale Aware Sort Tool sorts with Intl.Collator, the platform's locale-aware comparison, and shows a plain code-point sort beside it so the difference is visible rather than theoretical. It also handles the two chores that always accompany sorting: natural ordering of numbers, and duplicate removal.

A code-point sort compares character codes, which puts every uppercase letter before every lowercase one and every accented letter after the basic Latin alphabet. That is why a naive sort produces Apple, Banana, Zebra, apple — and why file lists from different tools disagree. A collator instead applies the locale's collation rules, so case and accents are handled in the order a reader of that language expects, and scripts such as Swedish place their three extra letters at the end of the alphabet rather than near their unaccented cousins. Turkish is a good reminder that the rules are language-specific, not decorative: its dotted and dotless i sort differently from English expectations.

Sensitivity controls how much of that detail counts. Variant distinguishes case and accents, which is right for a list of titles. Case ignores accents, useful for names in a contact list. Accent ignores case but respects accents. Base ignores both, which groups variants of a name together. Whichever you choose, the sort is stable: lines that compare equal keep the order they had in your input, so re-sorting an already sorted list does not shuffle it.

Natural ordering, sometimes called natural sort, treats digit runs as numbers instead of as text. Without it, item10 comes before item2 because a one is compared with a two; with it, item2 comes first and chapter10 follows chapter9. The checkbox applies numeric collation, which is the standard mechanism for exactly this, and the comparison column shows the result of sorting without it.

Duplicate removal compares lines using a case- and accent-insensitive key derived from the chosen locale, so Resume and résumé, or an item repeated with different capitalisation, collapse to the first occurrence. The panel reports how many duplicate groups it found and lists them, which is often more useful than the deletion itself — a list with a dozen near-duplicates usually has an upstream problem. Blank lines are ignored and counted rather than silently discarded, and descending order flips the finished list rather than re-sorting it.

Everything runs in the browser on the text you paste, with no upload and no storage. The two side-by-side panels at the bottom are the reason to keep the tool open while you work: one shows the collated order, the other the raw code-point order, and seeing where they diverge is usually the quickest way to explain why another program sorted your list differently.

The practical test is to sort text alphabetically once with the collator and once by code point. Wherever the two columns differ, the collator is following the rules of the locale while the code-point column is following raw character values, and knowing which one a downstream system uses explains most ordering surprises. The sorted list you copy carries that order with it, so a downstream tool that reads plain text preserves what you decided here.

How to use Locale-Aware Sort Tool

Paste one item per line. Blank lines are ignored and counted.
Choose the locale whose alphabet order you need.
Set case and accent sensitivity; Variant distinguishes both, Base ignores both.
Turn on natural numbers if the list contains numbered items, and remove duplicates if it needs cleaning.
Compare the collated column with the code-point column, then copy or download the sorted list.

When to use Locale-Aware Sort Tool vs related tools

Use it for indexes, glossaries, name lists, bibliographies and inventory files where the order has to match what a reader of that language expects. When the list is a set of numeric tokens or a document full of figures, the Number Format Checker reports inconsistent separators and grouping instead of ordering anything.

If duplicates are surviving because of invisible differences rather than case or accents, the Unicode Text Normalizer normalizes the text first and shows the zero-width characters that were making two identical-looking lines different.

Privacy & Security

This tool runs entirely in your browser — no data ever leaves your device. There is no server round-trip, no upload, no logging, and no account required. Your input is processed locally using client-side JavaScript and is never stored, transmitted, or accessible to anyone else. When you close the tab, everything disappears.