FATSORT(1)                       User Commands                      FATSORT(1)

NAME
       fatsort - FAT file system sorting utility

SYNOPSIS
       fatsort [OPTIONS] DEVICE

DESCRIPTION
       FATSort sorts the directory structure of FAT file systems, including
       FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, and exFAT.

       Sort options:

       -a     Use ASCII order for sorting.

       -c     Ignore case of file names (default for most locales).

       -I PFX Ignore the prefix PFX when comparing file names.

       -n     Use natural order sorting.

       -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

       -r     Sort in reverse order.

       -R     Sort in random order.

              This option overrides all other sort options.

       -t     Sort by last modification date and time.

       The following options can be specified multiple times to control which
       directories are sorted:

       -d DIR Sort the specified directory DIR only.

       -D DIR Sort DIR and all its subdirectories.

       -x DIR Exclude DIR from sorting.

       -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:

       -e RE  Only sort directories matching regular expression RE.

       -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.

       -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:

       -l     List the current file order only.

       -i     Display file system information only.

       -f     Force sorting even if the file system is mounted.

       -h, --help

              Display this help message.

       -v, --version

              Show version information.

       -q     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.

ENVIRONMENT
       The environment variable LC_ALL determines the system locale used by
       FATSort.

EXAMPLES
       fatsort /dev/sda
              Sort /dev/sda.

       fatsort -n /dev/sdb1
              Sort /dev/sdb1 using natural order.

AUTHOR
       Written by Boris Leidner.

REPORTING BUGS
       Report bugs to <fatsort@formenos.de>.

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright (C) 2004-2026 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.

fatsort 1.7.1                     March 2026                        FATSORT(1)