What is the ORDER BY Keyword?

The ORDER BY keyword is used to sort the result set in ascending (ASC) or descending (DESC) order.

Example: Sort by Price

Sort the products by their price:

SELECT * FROM Products
ORDER BY Price;
    

Syntax

SELECT column1, column2, ...
FROM table_name
ORDER BY column1, column2, ... ASC|DESC;
    

Demo Database

Below is a selection from the “Products” table used in the examples:

ProductID	ProductName	Price
1	Chais	18
2	Chang	19

Sorting in Descending Order

To sort records in descending order, use the DESC keyword:

SELECT * FROM Products
ORDER BY Price DESC;
    

Sorting Alphabetically

Sort the products alphabetically by their name:

SELECT * FROM Products
ORDER BY ProductName;
    

To sort in reverse alphabetical order, add the DESC keyword:

SELECT * FROM Products
ORDER BY ProductName DESC;
    

Sorting by Multiple Columns

To sort by multiple columns, specify them separated by commas. For example:

SELECT * FROM Customers
ORDER BY Country, CustomerName;
    

Use different sorting orders for each column:

SELECT * FROM Customers
ORDER BY Country ASC, CustomerName DESC;