---
title: ORDER BY clause
description: Use the ORDER BY clause to sort data by time in ascending or descending order.
url: https://docs.influxdata.com/influxdb3/enterprise/reference/influxql/order-by/
estimated_tokens: 766
product: InfluxDB 3 Enterprise
version: enterprise
publisher: InfluxData
canonical: https://docs.influxdata.com/influxdb3/enterprise/reference/influxql/order-by/
date: '2025-01-13T07:21:11-07:00'
lastmod: '2025-01-13T07:21:11-07:00'
---

Use the `ORDER BY` clause to sort data by time in ascending or descending order.
InfluxQL only supports sorting data by `time`.

* [Syntax](#syntax)
* [Examples](#examples)

## Syntax

```sql
SELECT_clause FROM_clause [WHERE_clause] [GROUP_BY_clause] ORDER BY time [ASC|DESC]
```

* If the the `ORDER BY` clause is not included, the default behavior is to sort data by
  time in **ascending** order: `ORDER BY time ASC`.
* If the query includes [`WHERE`](/influxdb3/enterprise/reference/influxql/where/)and [`GROUP BY`](/influxdb3/enterprise/reference/influxql/group-by/) clauses,
  the `ORDER BY` clause must come **after** these clauses.

#### Sort orders

* **ASC (ascending)**: The first row in the results has the oldest timestamp.
  The last row in the results has the most recent timestamp.
* **DESC (descending)**: The first row in the results has the most recent timestamp.
  The last row in the results has the oldest timestamp.

## Examples

The following examples use the[Home sensor sample data](/influxdb3/enterprise/reference/sample-data/#home-sensor-data).

[](#sort-data-with-the-oldest-points-first)

Sort data with the oldest points first

> [!Tip]
> Ordering data by time in ascending order is the default behavior.
> Including `ORDER BY time ASC` in the query isn’t necessary, but it is supported.

```sql
SELECT *
FROM home
WHERE
  room = 'Kitchen'
  AND time >= '2022-01-01T08:00:00Z'
  AND time <= '2022-01-01T12:00:00Z'
ORDER BY time ASC
```

Name: home

|        time        |co |hum | room  |temp|
|--------------------|---|----|-------|----|
|2022-01-01T08:00:00Z| 0 |35.9|Kitchen| 21 |
|2022-01-01T09:00:00Z| 0 |36.2|Kitchen| 23 |
|2022-01-01T10:00:00Z| 0 |36.1|Kitchen|22.7|
|2022-01-01T11:00:00Z| 0 | 36 |Kitchen|22.4|
|2022-01-01T12:00:00Z| 0 | 36 |Kitchen|22.5|

[](#sort-data-with-the-newest-points-first)

Sort data with the newest points first

```sql
SELECT *
FROM home
WHERE
  room = 'Kitchen'
  AND time >= '2022-01-01T08:00:00Z'
  AND time <= '2022-01-01T12:00:00Z'
ORDER BY time DESC
```

|        time        |co |hum | room  |temp|
|--------------------|---|----|-------|----|
|2022-01-01T12:00:00Z| 0 | 36 |Kitchen|22.5|
|2022-01-01T11:00:00Z| 0 | 36 |Kitchen|22.4|
|2022-01-01T10:00:00Z| 0 |36.1|Kitchen|22.7|
|2022-01-01T09:00:00Z| 0 |36.2|Kitchen| 23 |
|2022-01-01T08:00:00Z| 0 |35.9|Kitchen| 21 |
| time | co | hum | room | temp |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| time | co | hum | room | temp |
| 2022-01-01T08:00:00Z | 0 | 35.9 | Kitchen | 21 |
| 2022-01-01T09:00:00Z | 0 | 36.2 | Kitchen | 23 |
| 2022-01-01T10:00:00Z | 0 | 36.1 | Kitchen | 22.7 |
| 2022-01-01T11:00:00Z | 0 | 36 | Kitchen | 22.4 |
| 2022-01-01T12:00:00Z | 0 | 36 | Kitchen | 22.5 |

| time | co | hum | room | temp |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| time | co | hum | room | temp |
| 2022-01-01T12:00:00Z | 0 | 36 | Kitchen | 22.5 |
| 2022-01-01T11:00:00Z | 0 | 36 | Kitchen | 22.4 |
| 2022-01-01T10:00:00Z | 0 | 36.1 | Kitchen | 22.7 |
| 2022-01-01T09:00:00Z | 0 | 36.2 | Kitchen | 23 |
| 2022-01-01T08:00:00Z | 0 | 35.9 | Kitchen | 21 |