fatsort − FAT file system sorting utility
fatsort [OPTIONS] DEVICE
FATSort sorts the directory structure of FAT file systems, including FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, and exFAT.
Sort options:
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−a |
Use ASCII order for sorting. |
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−c |
Ignore case of file names (default for most locales). |
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−I PFX |
Ignore the prefix PFX when comparing file names. |
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−n |
Use natural order sorting. |
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−o FLAG |
Set the sort order of files, where FLAG is one of:
d : directories first (default)
f : files first
a : do not distinguish between files and directories
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−r |
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Sort in reverse order. |
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−R |
Sort in random order. |
This option overrides all other sort options.
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−t |
Sort by last modification date and time. |
The following options can be specified multiple times to control which directories are sorted:
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−d DIR |
Sort the specified directory DIR only. |
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−D DIR |
Sort DIR and all its subdirectories. |
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−x DIR |
Exclude DIR from sorting. |
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−X DIR |
Exclude DIR and all its subdirectories from sorting. |
The following options can be specified multiple times to select directories using POSIX.2 extended regular expressions:
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−e RE |
Only sort directories matching regular expression RE. |
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−E RE |
Don’t sort directories matching regular expression RE. |
Note: Options −e and −E cannot be used together with −d, −D, −x and −X.
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−L LOC |
Use the specified locale LOC instead of the system locale. FATSort follows locale−specific rules when sorting file names and directories. |
More options:
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−l |
List the current file order only. |
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−i |
Display file system information only. |
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−f |
Force sorting even if the file system is mounted. |
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−h, |
−−help
Display this help message.
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−v, −−version |
Show version information.
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−q |
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Suppress all non−error output. |
DEVICE must be a FAT12, FAT16, FAT32 or exFAT file system.
WARNING: THE FILE SYSTEM MUST BE CONSISTENT (I.E., FREE OF ERRORS) BEFORE RUNNING FATSORT. THERE IS A RISK OF FILE SYSTEM CORRUPTION. ALWAYS BACK UP YOUR DATA.
The environment variable LC_ALL determines the system locale used by FATSort.
fatsort /dev/sda
Sort /dev/sda.
fatsort −n /dev/sdb1
Sort /dev/sdb1 using natural order.
Written by Boris Leidner.
Report bugs to <fatsort@formenos.de>.
Copyright ©
2004−2025 Boris Leidner. License GPLv2: GNU GPL
version 2 (see LICENSE.txt)
This is free software: you are free to change and
redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent
permitted by law.