Line Operations

What each button reads

Every pass splits Input lines on \n or \r\n and writes a new Result. Sort A → Z and Sort Z → A use localeCompare with the browser's default locale. That is not a byte-order sort and it is not a natural-number sort. Digits are characters, so item10 comes before item2 because 1 is before 2. Letter case follows that same locale comparison: a and A sit next to each other, and which one is first depends on the locale rather than on a fixed uppercase-first rule. Reverse order flips the row order and does not sort.

Remove duplicates keeps the first exact row and drops later rows that are the same string. It does not trim and it does not ignore case, so Apple and apple both stay, and a row with a leading space does not match the trimmed word. Remove blank lines drops rows whose trim is empty, including a row of spaces. Number lines prefixes 1. , 2. , and so on, and a blank row still receives a number. Trim whitespace trims each row and keeps the row even when the trim is empty. None of these seven buttons call the others.

The eight controls

The seven outline buttons and Remove line breaks are the whole set. There is no menu for a combined pass, no ignore-case checkbox, and no natural-number checkbox. Preserve paragraphs when removing line breaks starts checked. Remove line breaks first turns \r\n into \n. With the box checked, it splits on a break, optional spaces or tabs, and at least one more break, replaces the remaining breaks inside each piece with a single space, and joins the pieces with a blank line. The sample becomes A wrapped paragraph. then a blank line then Another paragraph.

With the box unchecked, every break becomes a space, so the blank line in the sample becomes two spaces in a single line: A wrapped paragraph. Another paragraph. Load sample only fills the input. Reset clears the input and Result. Copy output and Download output read Result. If you press Sort A → Z and then Remove duplicates, the second press sorts nothing: it deduplicates the original box. Paste the sorted Result back when the second pass should see the first.

When a single pass is the right pass

Use Remove line breaks when a PDF or a web page wrapped a paragraph and a blank line still marks the next paragraph. Use Number lines when a checklist should gain 1. and 2. in the order you pasted. Use Reverse order when the newest log row should become the last, or the first, without an alphabetical pass. Use Sort A → Z or Sort Z → A when the destination wants locale order and you can accept item10 before item2.

A duplicate pass that should trim, ignore case, and keep the first spelling is the text deduplicator. An alphabetical pass that can place item2 before item10 is the text sorter. The pasted-list guide walks through that choice, including when the original order still matters. This page will not shuffle. A random order is a different tool, and it is not one of these buttons.

Joins, blanks, and digit order

Remove line breaks does not delete a hyphen. wrap- followed by a break and ped word becomes wrap- ped word, with a space where the break was. The hyphen stays because stripping it would also change a real hyphenated word. Column order from a PDF is not repaired. If the paste reads down the first column and then the second, the join follows that order. A heading that was its own wrapped line becomes part of the paragraph unless a blank line separated it.

Number lines numbers every row the split produced, including blanks, so a, a blank, and b become 1. a, then 2. with nothing after the space, then 3. b. Remove blank lines would have dropped the middle row first, but only if you paste that result back and press Remove blank lines as its own pass. Trim whitespace on a row of spaces leaves an empty row in Result. Remove duplicates on two identical blank rows keeps one of them, because the match is exact and the first empty string is a row.

Rules and limitations

Seven line buttons each split Input lines and replace Result. Sort uses localeCompare. Dedupe is case-sensitive and does not trim. Blank removal trims. Numbering uses 1. and keeps blank rows. Trim keeps a row that becomes empty.

Remove line breaks honors Preserve paragraphs when removing line breaks, which starts checked. A second button does not see Result until you paste it back. Copy and download read Result. Reset clears both boxes. Hyphens are kept.

Common problems

If the second press ignored the first Result, that is the design. Paste Result into Input lines before the next button.

If item10 sorted ahead of item2, the sort is not numeric. If a wrapped word gained a space after a hyphen, the join replaced the break and left the hyphen. If a PDF column mixed into the sentence, the join followed the paste order.

Frequently asked questions

About this tool

Maintained by Toolbench. For large or deeply nested files, split the input into smaller batches and verify representative results before using them in an import or application. Report reproducible problems through Contact.