How length is measured
Length is the number of characters in a line, counting spaces. Emoji and other characters made of several code units are counted as one character each, so the order matches what you see on screen.
Ties
When two lines have the same length, they are ordered alphabetically by default. Untick Break ties alphabetically to keep them in their original order instead.
What it is useful for
- Finding the longest or shortest line in a list.
- Tidying word lists, names or taglines by size.
- Checking which lines will not fit in a limit, by putting the longest first.
- Grouping similar items, such as short codes and long descriptions.
Example
The words banana, fig, apple, kiwi, watermelon and plum sorted shortest first become fig, kiwi, plum, apple, banana, watermelon.
Need exact numbers? The line counter shows the longest line and its length. For other orders use the main sort lines tool, or read the sorting guide.