Last updated: August 26, 2026.
ORDER BY sorts a query result by one or more expressions. Without it, row order is not guaranteed.
Sort by multiple columns
SELECT order_id, customer_name, order_total, placed_at
FROM orders
ORDER BY placed_at DESC, order_id DESC;Sort calculated or null values
SELECT product_name, unit_price * quantity AS line_total
FROM order_items
ORDER BY line_total DESC, product_name ASC;Add a unique tie-breaker when pagination must be stable. Null ordering and case-sensitive text ordering vary by database engine and collation.
