# sort > Sort lines of text files. > More information: . - Sort a file in ascending order: `sort {{path/to/file}}` - Sort a file in descending order: `sort -r {{path/to/file}}` - Sort a file in case-insensitive way: `sort --ignore-case {{path/to/file}}` - Sort a file using numeric rather than alphabetic order: `sort -n {{path/to/file}}` - Sort the passwd file by the 3rd field, numerically: `sort -t: -k 3n /etc/passwd` - Sort a file preserving only unique lines: `sort -u {{path/to/file}}` - Sort a file, printing the output to the specified output file (can be used to sort a file in-place): `sort --output={{path/to/file}} {{path/to/file}}` - Sort numbers with exponents: `sort --general-numeric-sort {{path/to/file}}`