SORT CSV

How Do Multi-Level Sorts Work?

A multi-level sort orders rows by the first column you pick, then breaks ties using the second column, then the third, and so on, up to five levels. Sorting customers by state and then by last name is a two-level sort: every NY row stays together, and within NY the names run alphabetically.

1. Add a level and choose its column.
2. Choose the direction: A to Z or Z to A.
3. Choose the type: Auto, Text, Number, or Date.
4. Add more levels for tie-breaks, then apply.

How Does Auto Decide Between Text, Numbers, and Dates?

Auto looks at the values in the column. Values that read as numbers are sorted in number order, including money such as $1,250.00 and accounting negatives such as (15.00), which sort below zero. Values that read as dates sort in date order. Anything else sorts as text, ignoring upper and lower case.

• Text uses natural number order, so item 2 comes before item 10.
• Choose Text, Number, or Date yourself when a column mixes kinds and Auto guesses wrong.
• Empty cells always go last, whichever direction you choose.

Can You Sort and Then Do Something Else?

Yes. The sort changes the table in this tab, and every other tool works on the sorted result. A common sequence is to sort by date, use Remove duplicates with Keep the last so the newest copy of each record survives, and export. Undo keeps the last five changes if a sort was not what you wanted.

The arrow in each grid header also sorts by that single column with one click. The Sort tool is the one to use when you need several levels or need to force a type such as Date on a column that Auto reads as text.

What Else Can You Do With a CSV Here?

• CSV viewer: Open a CSV of any size, scroll every row, and see a profile of each column.
• Filter CSV: Show only the rows that match an expression such as price > 10 AND state = "NY".
• CSV validator: Find ragged rows, broken quotes, bad headers, encoding problems, and values of the wrong type.
• Remove duplicates from CSV: Find and remove duplicate rows, comparing whole rows or only the columns you choose.
• Trim CSV whitespace: Trim leading and trailing spaces, collapse double spaces, and drop invisible characters and empty rows.
• Find and replace in CSV: Find text in one column or every column and replace it, with match case, whole cell, and regex options.
• Remove rows from CSV: Delete rows by number or range, the first or last rows, empty rows, or rows that match a rule.
• CSV editor: Edit cells, add or delete rows, and add, delete, rename, or move columns.
• Split CSV column: Split one column into several at a delimiter, such as a full name into first and last.
• Merge CSV columns: Join two or more columns into one with the separator you choose, skipping empty values.
• CSV column type converter: Convert a column to clean numbers, ISO dates, true/false, or upper, lower, or title case.
• CSV to JSON converter: Convert CSV to a JSON array of objects or arrays, or to JSON Lines, with typed values.
• JSON to CSV converter: Convert a JSON array or JSON Lines to CSV, flattening nested objects into dotted column names.
• CSV to SQL converter: Turn a CSV into SQL INSERT statements, with an optional CREATE TABLE, for PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, or SQL Server.
• CSV to TSV converter: Convert a comma-separated file to tab-separated values that paste cleanly into spreadsheets.
• TSV to CSV converter: Convert a tab-separated file to a standard, properly quoted comma-separated CSV.
• CSV splitter: Split a large CSV into smaller files of a set number of rows, with the header repeated in each.

All eighteen tools are on the 2csv home page, and once a file is open you can switch between them without reloading it. Part of the 2suite.io privacy-first ecosystem.