Sort-Object for ordering in PowerShell

Introduction

Sorting helps you organize data so it's easier to read and understand. Sort-Object arranges items in order, like sorting names alphabetically.

You have a list of files and want to see them by date from newest to oldest.

You want to organize a list of names alphabetically.

You need to sort numbers from smallest to largest.

You want to display processes sorted by memory usage.

You want to sort data before exporting it to a report.

Syntax

PowerShell

Sort-Object [-Property] <string[]> [-Descending] [-Unique] [-CaseSensitive] [-Culture <string>] [-Stable]

-Property specifies the property or value to sort by. If omitted, it sorts the objects themselves.

-Descending sorts from highest to lowest instead of lowest to highest.

Examples

Sorts running processes by CPU usage in ascending order.

PowerShell

Get-Process | Sort-Object -Property CPU

Sorts files by last modified date, newest first.

PowerShell

Get-ChildItem | Sort-Object -Property LastWriteTime -Descending

Sorts a list of strings alphabetically.

PowerShell

'apple','banana','cherry' | Sort-Object

Sorts numbers from largest to smallest.

PowerShell

5,3,9,1 | Sort-Object -Descending

Sample Program

This script creates a list of people with their ages. It sorts them by age from youngest to oldest and prints their names with ages.

PowerShell

$data = @(
    @{Name='John'; Age=30},
    @{Name='Anna'; Age=25},
    @{Name='Mike'; Age=35}
)

$data | Sort-Object -Property Age | ForEach-Object { "$($_.Name) is $($_.Age) years old" }

Important Notes

Sort-Object works well with both simple values and complex objects.

Use -Descending to reverse the order.

Sorting large data sets may take more time.

Summary

Sort-Object arranges data in order to make it easier to understand.

You can sort by any property or value.

Use -Descending to sort from highest to lowest.