How to use the command Sort-Object (with examples)

The Sort-Object command in PowerShell is used to sort objects by property values. It allows you to sort the output of a command or pipeline based on specific properties. This command can be especially useful when dealing with large datasets or organizing data in a specific order.

Use case 1: Sort the current directory by name:

Code:

Get-ChildItem | Sort-Object

Motivation: Sorting the current directory by name can help organize your files and folders in alphabetical order. This can be particularly useful when working with a large number of files and you want to quickly find a specific file based on its name.

Explanation:

• Get-ChildItem: This cmdlet retrieves the items (files and folders) in the current directory.
• Sort-Object: This cmdlet sorts the items by their default sort order, which is by name in ascending order.

Example Output:

Directory: C:\Users\Username\Documents

Mode                LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                -------------         ------ ----
-a----       01/08/2022     18:32              0 file1.txt
-a----       01/08/2022     18:35              0 file2.txt
-a----       01/08/2022     18:42              0 file3.txt

Use case 2: Sort the current directory by name descending:

Code:

Get-ChildItem | Sort-Object -Descending

Motivation: Sorting the current directory by name in descending order can be helpful when you want to view the most recently created or modified files at the top of the list. This makes it easier to locate and access the most recent files.

Explanation:

• Get-ChildItem: Retrieves the items (files and folders) in the current directory.
• Sort-Object: Sorts the items by their default sort order, which is by name, but with the -Descending parameter, the sorting will be in descending order.

Example Output:

Directory: C:\Users\Username\Documents

Mode                LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                -------------         ------ ----
-a----       01/08/2022     18:42              0 file3.txt
-a----       01/08/2022     18:35              0 file2.txt
-a----       01/08/2022     18:32              0 file1.txt

Use case 3: Sort items removing duplicates:

Code:

"a", "b", "a" | Sort-Object -Unique

Motivation: The -Unique parameter of the Sort-Object command allows you to sort a list of items and remove any duplicates. This can be useful when you have a list of values and you want to quickly identify unique elements.

Explanation:

• "a", "b", "a": This provides a list of items to be sorted.
• Sort-Object: Sorts the items in ascending order.
• -Unique: Removes any duplicates from the sorted list.

Example Output:

a
b

Use case 4: Sort the current directory by file length:

Code:

Get-ChildItem | Sort-Object -Property Length

Motivation: Sorting the current directory by file length can help identify the largest or smallest files in a directory. This can be useful for various scenarios, such as identifying large files that are consuming a significant amount of disk space.

Explanation:

• Get-ChildItem: Retrieves the items (files and folders) in the current directory.
• Sort-Object: Sorts the items.
• -Property Length: Specifies the property by which the items should be sorted, in this case, the file length.

Example Output:

Directory: C:\Users\Username\Documents

Mode                LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                -------------         ------ ----
-a----       01/08/2022     18:32              0 file1.txt
-a----       01/08/2022     18:35              0 file2.txt
-a----       01/08/2022     18:42              0 file3.txt

Use case 5: Sort processes with the highest memory usage based on their working set (WS) size:

Code:

Get-Process | Sort-Object -Property WS

Motivation: Sorting processes by their working set (WS) size can help identify which processes are consuming the most memory. This is useful for troubleshooting performance issues or identifying resource-intensive processes that may need optimization.

Explanation:

• Get-Process: Retrieves a list of running processes on the system.
• Sort-Object: Sorts the processes.
• -Property WS: Specifies the property by which the processes should be sorted, in this case, the working set (WS) size.

Example Output:

Handles  NPM(K)    PM(K)      WS(K)     CPU(s)     Id  SI ProcessName
-------  ------    -----      -----     ------     --  -- -----------
    308      17    30612      64340       0.05   2416   1 chrome
    241      10    21112      57076       0.44    808   1 slack
    187      15    17232      47144       2.11   1892   1 explorer