SQLORDER BY Clause

ORDER BY Clause

The ORDER BY clause in SQL is used to sort the result set of a SELECT query.

By default, when you run a SELECT query, MySQL returns the results in no particular order — it depends on how the database stores the data internally. If you want to display the results in a specific order (for example, by name or by date), you use the ORDER BY clause.

Basic Syntax

SELECT column1, column2, ...
FROM table_name
WHERE condition
ORDER BY column_name [ASC | DESC];
  • ASC means ascending order (smallest to largest, A to Z). This is the default.
  • DESC means descending order (largest to smallest, Z to A).

Example Table: students

idnameageemailenrollment_date
1Alice Smith20alice@example.com2025-06-23
2Bob Johnson22bob@example.com2025-06-20
3Carol Thomas19carol@example.com2025-06-21
4Dan Green23dan@example.com2025-06-19

Example 1: Order by Age (Ascending)

SELECT * FROM students
ORDER BY age ASC;

Result:

idnameageemailenrollment_date
3Carol Thomas19carol@example.com2025-06-21
1Alice Smith20alice@example.com2025-06-23
2Bob Johnson22bob@example.com2025-06-20
4Dan Green23dan@example.com2025-06-19

Example 2: Order by Name (Alphabetical)

SELECT * FROM students
ORDER BY name ASC;

Example 3: Order by Enrollment Date (Newest First)

SELECT * FROM students
ORDER BY enrollment_date DESC;

This will display the students who enrolled most recently at the top.

Example 4: Order by Multiple Columns

You can order by more than one column. For example, order first by age (ascending), then by name (ascending):

SELECT * FROM students
ORDER BY age ASC, name ASC;

This helps when two or more rows have the same value in the first column — it uses the second column to break ties.

Important Notes

  • The ORDER BY clause always goes after the WHERE clause (if there is one).
  • You can order by any column — it does not need to be one you are selecting.
  • By default, sorting is in ascending order.

Summary

  • ORDER BY is used to sort query results.
  • You can sort in ascending (ASC) or descending (DESC) order.
  • You can order by one or multiple columns.
  • Sorting helps make query results easier to read and analyze.
WHERE ClauseUPDATE Clause