Sort array of objects by single or multiple keys in JavaScript

By Thomas Taylor | | 2 minutes
JavaScript

In TypeScript or JavaScript, sorting an array of objects is made easy in ES6/ES2015.

Given an array of objects named people, sort them based on different criteria.

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const people = [
  {
    "id": 5,
    "firstName": "Buzz",
    "lastName": "Lightyear2"
  },
  {
    "id": 2,
    "firstName": "Buzz",
    "lastName": "Lightyear"
  },
  {
    "id": 1,
    "firstName": "Woody",
    "lastName": "Pride"
  },
  {
    "id": 3,
    "firstName": "Potato",
    "lastName": "Head"
  },
  {
    "id": 4,
    "firstName": "Slinky",
    "lastName": "Dog"
  }
];

Sorting an array of objects by a single key

Sort ascending by number

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// sort ascending by id
people.sort((a, b) => a.id - b.id)

Sort ascending by string

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// sort ascending by firstName
people.sort((a, b) => a.firstName.localeCompare(b.firstName))

Sort descending by number

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// sort descending by id
people.sort((a, b) => b.id - a.id)

Sort descending by string

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// sort descending by firstName
people.sort((a, b) => b.firstName.localeCompare(a.firstName))

Sorting array of objects by multiple keys

If a secondary key is needed for additional sorting, the same sort method can be used.

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people.sort(
    (a, b) => a.firstName.localeCompare(b.firstName) ||
    a.lastName.localeCompare(b.lastName)
);

the or logical operator || chains multiple sort options.