Example
Ottawa Toronto vancouver Montreal Calgary
Calgary Montreal Ottawa Toronto vancouver
Numbers sort naturally
Items that contain numbers sort the way people expect, so “Item 2” comes before “Item 10”. A plain character-by-character sort would put “Item 10” first.
Sorting words vs. lines
Sort by line to order a list with one item per line. Sort by word to split a sentence or paragraph into separate words and sort those.
Practical uses
Sort a bibliography or reading list, put a glossary in order, arrange names for a seating plan, tidy a list of tags, or reverse a list so the newest items come first. “Shuffle” randomizes the order, which is handy for drawing names, picking a presentation order, or mixing quiz questions.
Case and accents
With “Ignore upper/lower case” on, “apple” and “Apple” sort together, and accented letters sort next to their plain forms (é with e), following your browser’s language rules. Turn it off when capitals should be distinguished, for example when sorting code identifiers.