Linux Commands | File Management | sort Sorting

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sort Command

The sort command is used to sort command output or file contents.

Syntax

sort [-options] [-o output file name] file to sort [file to merge]

Options

  • -b: Ignores leading blanks.
  • -o: Specifies the output file.
  • -r: Displays in reverse order.
  • -f: Ignores case.
  • -t: Specifies a field separator.
  • -u: Removes duplicate lines.
  • -m: Merges sorted files.
  • -n: Compares as numbers.

sort Command Examples

Example: Sort file contents

If there is a file containing only numbers as shown below:

cat sample.txt
3
1
5
9
7

You can sort the output with the sort [file name] command.

sort sample.txt
1
3
5
7
9

Example: Sort when there are multiple columns

If there are two columns as shown below:

cat sample.txt
3 f
1 b
5 a
9 c
7 e

Use the sort +1 [file name] command to sort by the second column.

sort +1 sample.txt
5 a
1 b
9 c
7 e
3 f