What does "sort by name" mean?

iMac 27″, macOS 11.2

Posted on Apr 24, 2021 3:05 PM

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Posted on Apr 25, 2021 7:07 AM

When you have files starting with both numbers and letters the numbers come first. If you are using numbers more than 9 you need to use leading zeros, so,


01 02 03... 09 10 11 etc not 1 2 3... 9 10 (though actually Macs will sort corerctly without leading zeros in the Finder but it's not wise to rely on it). Similarly two leading zeros at first if you're going over 99 (001, 002... 099, 100, 101...


Spaces come before letters or numbers - it's not advisable to start a filename with a space, and never with a stop. If files are going to the internet you should avoid spaces (as in your example).

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Apr 25, 2021 7:07 AM in response to Daniel Stonek

When you have files starting with both numbers and letters the numbers come first. If you are using numbers more than 9 you need to use leading zeros, so,


01 02 03... 09 10 11 etc not 1 2 3... 9 10 (though actually Macs will sort corerctly without leading zeros in the Finder but it's not wise to rely on it). Similarly two leading zeros at first if you're going over 99 (001, 002... 099, 100, 101...


Spaces come before letters or numbers - it's not advisable to start a filename with a space, and never with a stop. If files are going to the internet you should avoid spaces (as in your example).

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What does "sort by name" mean?

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