ls command: sort files by name alphabetically A-Z or Z-A [Linux/Unix/macOS/Bash]

If you are looking for sorting your ls command output on terminal by file names in ascending or descending order (Linux, Unix, macOS or Bash terminal), you would need to make use of sort command with ls

ls -l | sort -> sorts in alphabetical order A-Z

ls -l | sort -r -> sorts in alphabetically reverse order Z-A

ls command without any sorting

$ ls -l
total 0
-rw-r--r-- 1 linuxBox 197121 0 Aug 22 15:24 china.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 linuxBox 197121 0 Aug 22 15:24 denmark.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 linuxBox 197121 0 Aug 22 15:24 germany.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 linuxBox 197121 0 Aug 22 15:24 india.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 linuxBox 197121 0 Aug 22 15:24 japan.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 linuxBox 197121 0 Aug 22 15:24 java.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 linuxBox 197121 0 Aug 22 15:24 newzeland.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 linuxBox 197121 0 Aug 22 15:24 php.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 linuxBox 197121 0 Aug 22 15:24 poland.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 linuxBox 197121 0 Aug 22 15:24 sweden.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 linuxBox 197121 0 Aug 22 15:24 uk.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 linuxBox 197121 0 Aug 22 15:24 usa.txt

ls command with alphabetical order sorting (acending)

$ ls -l | sort
-rw-r--r-- 1 linuxBox 197121 0 Aug 22 15:24 china.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 linuxBox 197121 0 Aug 22 15:24 denmark.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 linuxBox 197121 0 Aug 22 15:24 germany.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 linuxBox 197121 0 Aug 22 15:24 india.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 linuxBox 197121 0 Aug 22 15:24 japan.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 linuxBox 197121 0 Aug 22 15:24 java.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 linuxBox 197121 0 Aug 22 15:24 newzeland.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 linuxBox 197121 0 Aug 22 15:24 php.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 linuxBox 197121 0 Aug 22 15:24 poland.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 linuxBox 197121 0 Aug 22 15:24 sweden.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 linuxBox 197121 0 Aug 22 15:24 uk.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 linuxBox 197121 0 Aug 22 15:24 usa.txt
total 0

ls command with alphabetical reverse order sorting (descending)

$ ls -l | sort -r
total 0
-rw-r--r-- 1 linuxBox 197121 0 Aug 22 15:24 usa.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 linuxBox 197121 0 Aug 22 15:24 uk.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 linuxBox 197121 0 Aug 22 15:24 sweden.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 linuxBox 197121 0 Aug 22 15:24 poland.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 linuxBox 197121 0 Aug 22 15:24 php.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 linuxBox 197121 0 Aug 22 15:24 newzeland.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 linuxBox 197121 0 Aug 22 15:24 java.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 linuxBox 197121 0 Aug 22 15:24 japan.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 linuxBox 197121 0 Aug 22 15:24 india.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 linuxBox 197121 0 Aug 22 15:24 germany.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 linuxBox 197121 0 Aug 22 15:24 denmark.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 linuxBox 197121 0 Aug 22 15:24 china.txt

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