NAME
fatsort - FAT file system sorting utility
SYNOPSIS
fatsort [OPTIONS] DEVICE
DESCRIPTION
FATSort sorts the directory structure of FAT file systems, including FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, and exFAT.
Sort options:
- -a
-
Use ASCII order for sorting.
- -c
-
Ignore case of file names (default for most locales).
- -I PFX
-
Ignore the prefix PFX when comparing file names.
- -n
-
Use natural order sorting.
-o FLAG Set the sort order of files, where FLAG is one of:
-
d : directories first (default)
-
f : files first
-
a : do not distinguish between files and directories
- -r
-
Sort in reverse order.
- -R
-
Sort in random order.
-
This option overrides all other sort options.
- -t
-
Sort by last modification date and time.
The following options can be specified multiple times to control which directories are sorted:
- -d DIR
-
Sort the specified directory DIR only.
- -D DIR
-
Sort DIR and all its subdirectories.
- -x DIR
-
Exclude DIR from sorting.
- -X DIR
-
Exclude DIR and all its subdirectories from sorting.
The following options can be specified multiple times to select directories using POSIX.2 extended regular expressions:
- -e RE
-
Only sort directories matching regular expression RE.
- -E RE
-
Don't sort directories matching regular expression RE.
Note: Options -e and -E cannot be used together with -d, -D, -x and -X.
- -L LOC
-
Use the specified locale LOC instead of the system locale. FATSort follows locale-specific rules when sorting file names and directories.
More options:
- -l
-
List the current file order only.
- -i
-
Display file system information only.
- -f
-
Force sorting even if the file system is mounted.
-h, --help
-
Display this help message.
-v, --version
-
Show version information.
- -q
-
Suppress all non-error output.
DEVICE must be a FAT12, FAT16, FAT32 or exFAT file system.
WARNING: THE FILE SYSTEM MUST BE CONSISTENT (I.E., FREE OF ERRORS) BEFORE RUNNING FATSORT. THERE IS A RISK OF FILE SYSTEM CORRUPTION. ALWAYS BACK UP YOUR DATA.
ENVIRONMENT
The environment variable LC_ALL determines the system locale used by FATSort.
EXAMPLES
- fatsort /dev/sda
-
Sort /dev/sda.
- fatsort -n /dev/sdb1
-
Sort /dev/sdb1 using natural order.
AUTHOR
Written by Boris Leidner.
REPORTING BUGS
Report bugs to <[email protected]>.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 2004-2026 Boris Leidner. License GPLv2: GNU GPL version 2 (see LICENSE.txt)
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.