> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://villagesql.com/docs/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # MySQL ORDER BY > How to sort a MySQL result with ORDER BY: ascending and descending, several columns at once, sorting by an alias, and where NULL values land. All examples on this page work on VillageSQL. Install Now → A table has no order. Rows come back in whatever order the server finds convenient, and that can change between one run and the next. `ORDER BY` is the only thing that decides the order of a result. Open the client with `mysql -u root -p sakila` before you start. ## How ORDER BY works ```sql theme={null} SELECT COLUMN_LIST FROM TABLE_NAME ORDER BY SORT_COLUMN DIRECTION; ``` Replace `SORT_COLUMN` with the column to sort on. `DIRECTION` is either `ASC` for smallest first or `DESC` for largest first. It is optional, and leaving it out means `ASC`. ## Examples ### 1) Sort by one column ```sql theme={null} SELECT title FROM film ORDER BY title; ``` ```text theme={null} +-----------------------------+ | title | +-----------------------------+ | ACADEMY DINOSAUR | | ACE GOLDFINGER | | ADAPTATION HOLES | | AFFAIR PREJUDICE | | AFRICAN EGG | ... +-----------------------------+ 1000 rows in set (0.01 sec) ``` ### 2) Sort the other way ```sql theme={null} SELECT title, rental_rate FROM film ORDER BY rental_rate DESC; ``` ```text theme={null} +-----------------------------+-------------+ | title | rental_rate | +-----------------------------+-------------+ | ACE GOLDFINGER | 4.99 | | AIRPLANE SIERRA | 4.99 | | AIRPORT POLLOCK | 4.99 | | ALADDIN CALENDAR | 4.99 | | ALI FOREVER | 4.99 | ... +-----------------------------+-------------+ 1000 rows in set (0.00 sec) ``` Sakila prices every film at 1 of only 3 rates, and 336 films share the top rate of 4.99. The order among those 336 tied rows is not decided by this query, so it can differ from the order you see here. ### 3) Break the tie with a second column List sort columns in order of priority, separated by commas. Each one takes its own direction. ```sql theme={null} SELECT title, rental_rate, length FROM film ORDER BY rental_rate DESC, length; ``` ```text theme={null} +-----------------------------+-------------+--------+ | title | rental_rate | length | +-----------------------------+-------------+--------+ | IRON MOON | 4.99 | 46 | | HANOVER GALAXY | 4.99 | 47 | | ACE GOLDFINGER | 4.99 | 48 | | MIDSUMMER GROUNDHOG | 4.99 | 48 | | PELICAN COMFORTS | 4.99 | 48 | ... +-----------------------------+-------------+--------+ 1000 rows in set (0.00 sec) ``` `rental_rate` still leads, descending. Within each rate the shortest film comes first. Films of equal length are still tied, so a fully decided order needs enough columns to make every row unique. ### 4) Sort by an alias `ORDER BY` can name a column alias from the same query. ```sql theme={null} SELECT title AS film_title FROM film ORDER BY film_title; ``` ```text theme={null} +-----------------------------+ | film_title | +-----------------------------+ | ACADEMY DINOSAUR | | ACE GOLDFINGER | | ADAPTATION HOLES | ... +-----------------------------+ 1000 rows in set (0.00 sec) ``` ## Quote an alias with backticks, not single quotes An alias holding a space has to be quoted, and here the 2 quoting styles stop agreeing. Single quotes make a string rather than a name, and sorting by a fixed string sorts nothing. ```sql theme={null} SELECT title, rental_rate AS 'Rate' FROM film ORDER BY 'Rate'; ``` ```text theme={null} +-----------------------------+------+ | title | Rate | +-----------------------------+------+ | ACADEMY DINOSAUR | 0.99 | | ACE GOLDFINGER | 4.99 | | ADAPTATION HOLES | 2.99 | | AFFAIR PREJUDICE | 2.99 | | AFRICAN EGG | 2.99 | ... +-----------------------------+------+ 1000 rows in set (0.00 sec) ``` The rates run 0.99, 4.99, 2.99, so nothing was sorted. The server read `'Rate'` as the 4 letter word and sorted every row by the same value. No error, no warning, no sorting. Backticks name the alias, and the sort happens: ```sql theme={null} SELECT title, rental_rate AS `Rate` FROM film ORDER BY `Rate`; ``` ```text theme={null} +-----------------------------+------+ | title | Rate | +-----------------------------+------+ | ACADEMY DINOSAUR | 0.99 | | ALAMO VIDEOTAPE | 0.99 | | ALASKA PHANTOM | 0.99 | | ALICE FANTASIA | 0.99 | | ALONE TRIP | 0.99 | ... +-----------------------------+------+ 1000 rows in set (0.00 sec) ``` Every row shown is at 0.99, so their order among themselves is not decided here either. ## Where NULL lands A column can hold `NULL`, which records that no value is there at all. It is not a zero and not an empty string. MySQL sorts `NULL` below every real value, so ascending order puts the NULLs first. Of the 603 rows in `address`, 4 have no `address2`. ```sql theme={null} SELECT address_id, address2 FROM address ORDER BY address2; ``` ```text theme={null} +------------+----------+ | address_id | address2 | +------------+----------+ | 1 | NULL | | 2 | NULL | | 3 | NULL | | 4 | NULL | | 303 | | | 605 | | ... +------------+----------+ 603 rows in set (0.00 sec) ``` The 4 NULL rows come first. The rows after them hold an empty string, which is a real value, so it sorts above `NULL` and below any text. Those 4 NULL rows are tied with each other, so the order among them is not decided by this query. `DESC` reverses it and the NULLs go to the bottom. This is the end of the same result sorted the other way: ```sql theme={null} SELECT address_id, address2 FROM address ORDER BY address2 DESC; ``` ```text theme={null} +------------+----------+ | address_id | address2 | +------------+----------+ ... | 532 | | | 1 | NULL | | 2 | NULL | | 3 | NULL | | 4 | NULL | +------------+----------+ 603 rows in set (0.00 sec) ``` ## Summary * Use `ORDER BY` to decide the order of a result, because nothing else does. * Write `DESC` for largest first; `ASC` is the default. * List several sort columns, in priority order, to break ties. * Quote an alias with backticks when sorting by it, because single quotes make a string. * Expect `NULL` first when sorting ascending, and last when sorting descending. ## See also * [SELECT](/docs/tutorial/select) — the statement being sorted * [Column aliases](/docs/tutorial/column-aliases) — naming the column you sort by * [LIMIT](/docs/tutorial/limit) — take the first few rows of a sorted result * [Pagination in MySQL](/docs/guides/pagination) — what sorting costs on a large table