MySQL ORDER BY Keyword

Introduction

In our previous blog, we learned about the MySQL WHERE Clause and how to filter records using conditions. We also explored operators like AND, OR, and NOT to refine our search results.

Now, in this blog, we will move one step further and learn how to sort the results using the MySQL ORDER BY keyword and insert new data into tables using the INSERT INTO statement. These two concepts are essential for working with databases effectively — sorting helps organize your data, and inserting records allows you to add new information into your database.

If you want to master MySQL from basics to advanced with real-time training, CredoSystemz is the best place to start.

The MySQL ORDER BY Keyword

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

By default, ORDER BY sorts in ascending order, which means smallest to largest (for numbers) or A to Z (for text).

ORDER BY Syntax

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

ASC – Sorts in ascending order (default).
DESC – Sorts in descending order.

Demo Database

Let us use the Customers table from the Northwind sample database:

CustomerID	Customer Name	Address	City	Postal Code	Country
1	Alfreds	Obere Str. 57	Berlin	12209	Germany
2	Ana Trujillo	Avda. de la Constitución 2222	México D.F.	05021	Mexico
3	Antonio Moreno	Mataderos 2312	México D.F.	05023	Mexico
4	Thomas Hardy	120 Hanover Sq.	London	WA1 1DP	UK
5	Christina Berglund	Berguvsvägen 8	Lulea	S-958 22	Sweden

ORDER BY Example

Sort customers by country in ascending order:

SELECT * FROM Customers
ORDER BY Country;

Result:

CustomerID	Customer Name	Country
1	Alfreds	Germany
2	Ana Trujillo	Mexico
3	Antonio Moreno	Mexico
5	Christina Berglund	Sweden
4	Thomas Hardy	UK

ORDER BY DESC Example

Sort customers by country in descending order:

SELECT * FROM Customers
ORDER BY Country DESC;

Result:

CustomerID	Customer Name	Country
4	Thomas Hardy	UK
5	Christina Berglund	Sweden
2	Ana Trujillo	Mexico
3	Antonio Moreno	Mexico
1	Alfreds	Germany

ORDER BY Several Columns Example

We can sort by more than one column. For example, we can sort by Country ascending and then by Customer Name ascending:

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

Result:

CustomerID	Customer Name	Country
1	Alfreds	Germany
2	Ana Trujillo	Mexico
3	Antonio Moreno	Mexico
5	Christina Berglund	Sweden
4	Thomas Hardy	UK

ORDER BY Several Columns Example 2

We can sort by Country ascending and Customer Name descending:

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

Result:

CustomerID	Customer Name	Country
1	Alfreds	Germany
3	Antonio Moreno	Mexico
2	Ana Trujillo	Mexico
5	Christina Berglund	Sweden
4	Thomas Hardy	UK

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MySQL ORDER BY Keyword