Find the longest line

Find the longest line in text — spot the longest string fast

Paste a list or block of text and reorder it so the longest line appears first. This tool helps you locate overly long entries, merged lines, or outliers in seconds.

How to use

• Paste your list into the editor.
• Open Sort → Length desc. The editor will reorder lines from longest to shortest.
• Inspect the first line — that is the longest line. Use Undo/Redo to revert changes if needed.

Behavior & rules

• Whitespace: the tool measures lines as-is. It does not trim leading or trailing spaces automatically — run Remove → Trim first if you need trimmed lengths.
• Ties: when multiple lines share the same length, their relative order is not preserved. Use Undo/Redo to recover the previous order or try other sort types in the editor.
• Measurement: length is based on character count (including spaces) after any preprocessing you apply.

Before → after example

Sample input (three lines):

Item A
A very long product title that may break a UI or import
Short

After Sort → Length desc the longest line will be first:

A very long product title that may break a UI or import
Item A
Short

Real-world use cases

• Data validation: find product titles, descriptions or SKUs that exceed field limits before an import.
• Content cleanup: detect lines merged by accident (missing newline) in exported content or logs.
• UI testing: locate strings that may overflow components, menus or labels and require truncation or redesign.
• Log analysis: surface unusually long log entries that may contain stack traces or embedded payloads.
• CSV sanity checks: identify cells that look too long after you extract a column (see suggested workflow below).

Suggested workflows & related tools

• Trim whitespace first: Trim.
• Remove empty lines or noise: Remove Empty Lines.
• Count or inspect lengths: Character Counter and Line Counter.
• Extract a specific column or pattern (for CSV): use Pattern Extractor or filter-list before sorting by length.
• If you need the longest unique entries, run Remove Duplicates after trimming.
• Direct sort tool: Sort By Length performs the same reorder operation.

Tips & edge cases

• For very large lists, preprocess (trim/remove empty) to get reliable results faster.
• If you need to preserve original order for tie-breaking, avoid sorting or take a copy of your input first (Undo/Redo can restore state immediately after a sort).
• For multi-column CSVs, extract the column you care about before running this tool — sorting the entire CSV without extracting may mix unrelated columns.

FAQ

Does the tool trim whitespace before measuring line length?

No. The tool measures raw line length. To remove leading/trailing spaces first, run Trim or Remove Empty Lines before sorting.

What happens if multiple lines have the same length?

Ties are not guaranteed to preserve original order. The editor does not store the prior order permanently, but you can use Undo/Redo immediately after the sort. If stable ordering matters, make a copy of your input first.

Can I use this on CSV or multi-column data?

Not directly. Extract the column you want to check (for example with Pattern Extractor or filter-list), then run the length sort on that column to find oversized cells.

What should I do if I find a too-long line?

Trim or shorten the text in your editor, split merged lines, or run de-duplication/cleanup tools (Remove Empty Lines, Remove Duplicates). Use Character Counter to confirm lengths against target limits.

Find the longest line online — fast reordering to place the longest string first. Preprocess with Trim and Remove Empty Lines for reliable results, extract columns if needed, and use Undo/Redo to recover original state immediately after sorting.