---
name: "csvsort"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "csvkit"
version: "2.2.0-2"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/csvsort"
---

# csvsort(1)

csvsort Documentation

## NAME

csvsort - csvsort Documentation

## DESCRIPTION

Sort CSV files. Like the Unix "sort" command, but for tabular data:

```
usage: csvsort [-h] [-d DELIMITER] [-t] [-q QUOTECHAR] [-u {0,1,2,3}] [-b]
               [-p ESCAPECHAR] [-z FIELD_SIZE_LIMIT] [-e ENCODING] [-L LOCALE]
               [-S] [--blanks] [--null-value NULL_VALUES [NULL_VALUES ...]]
               [--date-format DATE_FORMAT] [--datetime-format DATETIME_FORMAT]
               [-H] [-K SKIP_LINES] [-v] [-l] [--zero] [-V] [-n] [-c COLUMNS]
               [-r] [-i] [-y SNIFF_LIMIT] [-I]
               [FILE]
Sort CSV files. Like the Unix "sort" command, but for tabular data.
positional arguments:
  FILE                  The CSV file to operate on. If omitted, will accept
                        input as piped data via STDIN.
optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -n, --names           Display column names and indices from the input CSV
                        and exit.
  -c COLUMNS, --columns COLUMNS
                        A comma-separated list of column indices, names or
                        ranges to sort by, e.g. "1,id,3-5". Defaults to all
                        columns.
  -r, --reverse         Sort in descending order.
  -i, --ignore-case     Perform case-independent sorting.
  -y SNIFF_LIMIT, --snifflimit SNIFF_LIMIT
                        Limit CSV dialect sniffing to the specified number of
                        bytes. Specify "0" to disable sniffing entirely, or
                        "-1" to sniff the entire file.
  -I, --no-inference    Disable type inference (and --locale, --date-format,
                        --datetime-format, --no-leading-zeroes) when parsing
                        the input.
```

See also: *Arguments common to all tools*.

**NOTE:**

If your file is large, try **sort -t, file.csv** instead.

## EXAMPLES

Sort the veteran's education benefits table by the "TOTAL" column:

```
csvsort -c 9 examples/realdata/FY09_EDU_Recipients_by_State.csv
```

View the five states with the most individuals claiming veteran's education benefits:

```
csvcut -c 1,9 examples/realdata/FY09_EDU_Recipients_by_State.csv | csvsort -r -c 2 | head -n 5
```

## AUTHOR

Christopher Groskopf and contributors

## COPYRIGHT

2016, Christopher Groskopf and James McKinney