---
title: SQL ORDER BY Clause
description: "**SQL ORDER BY Clause** - Sorting Your Query Results The ORDER BY clause is used to **sort the rows** returned by a SELECT query. By default, SQL returns data in **no guaranteed order**, so if you want organised results —…"
url: "https://vinothqaacademy.com/docs/sql-order-by-clause/"
updated: "2026-01-15"
category: SQL Tutorials
tags:
  - SQL Tutorials
---

# SQL ORDER BY Clause

**SQL ORDER BY Clause** - Sorting Your Query Results

The ORDER BY clause is used to **sort the rows** returned by a SELECT query.
By default, SQL returns data in **no guaranteed order**, so if you want organised results — alphabetical, numeric, highest to lowest, earliest to latest — you must use ORDER BY.

This tutorial explains how to sort data using one or multiple columns in both ascending and descending order.

**1. Basic Syntax of ORDER BY**

```sql

                SELECT column1, column2, ...

FROM table_name

ORDER BY column1 [ASC|DESC], column2 [ASC|DESC], ...;

ASC → Ascending order (default)

DESC → Descending order

You can sort by one or many columns

Numeric, text, date, and expression columns can all be sorted
```

**2. Sorting by One Column**

```sql

                -- Example: Sort employees by their first name:

SELECT FirstName, LastName, Salary

FROM Employees

ORDER BY FirstName;

-- Because ascending order is default, the result is A → Z.

-- To reverse the order:

SELECT FirstName, LastName, Salary

FROM Employees

ORDER BY FirstName DESC;
```

**3. Sorting by Multiple Columns**

When two or more rows have the same value in the first column, SQL uses the next column to break the tie.

```sql

                -- Example:

SELECT FirstName, LastName, City

FROM Employees

ORDER BY City ASC, LastName ASC;
```

Meaning:

- Sort by **City** first
- If two people live in the same city → sort by **LastName**

```sql

                -- Another example (common in banking/salary data):

SELECT Department, Salary, FirstName

FROM Employees

ORDER BY Department ASC, Salary DESC;
```

**4. Sorting by an Expression**

You can sort by a calculated column, even if it's not shown in the result.

```sql

                -- Example: Sort employees by annual salary (calculated on the fly):

SELECT 

    FirstName,

    Salary,

    Salary * 12 AS AnnualSalary

-- FROM Employees

ORDER BY Salary * 12 DESC;

-- Or sort by length of employee names:

SELECT FirstName, LastName

FROM Employees

ORDER BY LENGTH(FirstName);
```

**5. Sorting by Column Position (Not Recommended Usually)**

SQL allows sorting using the **column number** in the SELECT list:

```sql

                SELECT FirstName, LastName, Salary

FROM Employees

ORDER BY 3 DESC;
```

*Here, **3** means the third column in the SELECT list → Salary.*

Although allowed, this is **not recommended** because:

- Harder to read
- Risky when someone changes the SELECT column order later

Use column names for clarity.

**6. ORDER BY with NULL Values**

SQL does not treat NULL as a normal value.
Sorting behaviour:

- In **ASC**, NULL appears **first** in most databases

- In **DESC**, NULL appears **last**

```sql

                -- Example:

SELECT FirstName, Bonus

FROM Employees

ORDER BY Bonus ASC;

-- To explicitly control placement:

-- NULLS LAST (PostgreSQL, Oracle):

SELECT FirstName, Bonus

FROM Employees

ORDER BY Bonus ASC NULLS LAST;

-- NULLS FIRST (PostgreSQL, Oracle):

ORDER BY Bonus DESC NULLS FIRST;
```

(MySQL doesn’t support NULLS FIRST/LAST, but you can simulate it with conditions.)

**7. ORDER BY with Aliases**

You *can* sort using the alias defined in the SELECT clause.

```sql

                SELECT

    FirstName,

    LastName,

    Salary * 12 AS AnnualSalary

FROM Employees

ORDER BY AnnualSalary DESC;
```

This improves readability, especially with complex calculations.

**8. ORDER BY with LIMIT / TOP / FETCH**

Sorting is usually combined with row-limiting clauses.

```sql

                -- MySQL / PostgreSQL:

SELECT *

FROM Employees

ORDER BY Salary DESC

LIMIT 5;

-- SQL Server:

SELECT TOP 5 *

FROM Employees

ORDER BY Salary DESC;

-- Standard SQL:

SELECT *

FROM Employees

ORDER BY Salary DESC

FETCH FIRST 5 ROWS ONLY;
```

**9. Practical Example (Real-World Scenario)**

*Imagine a Transactions table:*

| **TxnID** | **CustomerID** | **Amount** | **TxnDate** | **Type** |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 101 | 2001 | 350.00 | 2025-11-14 | Credit |
| 102 | 2001 | 120.00 | 2025-11-13 | Debit |
| 103 | 2002 | 900.00 | 2025-11-14 | Credit |
| 104 | 2003 | NULL | 2025-11-12 | Refund |

```sql

                -- Sort by latest transactions:

SELECT TxnID, CustomerID, Amount, TxnDate

FROM Transactions

ORDER BY TxnDate DESC;

-- Sort by amount (biggest first), NULL amounts last:

SELECT TxnID, Amount, TxnDate

FROM Transactions

ORDER BY Amount DESC NULLS LAST;

-- Sort by type and then by date:

SELECT TxnID, Type, Amount, TxnDate

FROM Transactions

ORDER BY Type ASC, TxnDate DESC;
```

**10. Summary**

*By now you should understand:*

✔ How to sort rows using ORDER BY

✔ Difference between ASC and DESC

✔ Sorting with multiple columns

✔ Sorting by expressions and aliases

✔ Handling NULLs in sorting

✔ How ORDER BY works with LIMIT/TOP

*The ORDER BY clause is one of the most important tools for analysing and presenting data accurately.*