How to Reverse Line Order Without Reversing the Text

To put the last item in a plain-text list first, reverse the order of the lines while keeping the words on each line readable. The Reverse Text tool has a Line order mode for this task. Choose that mode before copying the result: the default mode reverses characters instead.

This works well for a short activity log that is already in the opposite order from the one you need. It does not read timestamps or sort unsorted records.

Start with one complete item per line

Here is a fictional activity log, already ordered from earliest to latest. The repeated entry is intentional:

09:00 Open
09:05 Pour tea
09:05 Pour tea
09:10 Close

After reversing the lines, the expected result is:

09:10 Close
09:05 Pour tea
09:05 Pour tea
09:00 Open

The two tea entries remain. Each timestamp stays attached to its activity, and the words within each entry keep their original order. If the input had mixed-up times, reversing it would leave those times mixed up.

Reverse the line order in the tool

1. Keep an untouched copy of your source text.
2. Open the tool and paste your list into Your text.
3. Under What should be reversed, select Line order.
4. Review Reversed text. It updates automatically when you edit the input or change modes.
5. Check the first and last entries, then use Copy result and paste into your destination.

For the sample above, the output should start with 09:10 Close and end with 09:00 Open. Seeing backwards words means the wrong mode is selected.

Check blank lines and the final newline

Blank lines also take part in the reversal; they are not treated as fixed section separators. A blank line near the top moves near the bottom. If the input ends with a newline, the empty item after that newline moves to the beginning, so the output starts with a blank line.

For a compact check, A\n\nB\n represents A, a blank line, B, and a final newline. Reversing those entries produces \nB\n\nA. Here \n is notation for a line break, not text to paste.

This follows the behavior documented for JavaScript split(): a separator at the end leaves an empty item. The tool reverses the resulting items, then reconnects them with line breaks using join().

Use a second reversal as a quick check

While Line order remains selected, click Send result back to the box. The reversed result becomes the input, and the output immediately returns to the original line order. This is consistent with array reversal: exchanging first and last positions twice restores the sequence.

Keep track of which version you copy after this check. To return the output to reversed order, paste your saved original into the input again. A round trip checks the text in the browser; it does not prove that an original file retains identical bytes or line-ending encoding.

Avoid reversing parts of a larger record

A paragraph, address, stack trace or quoted CSV cell may contain several actual line breaks within one record. This mode moves every line separately, so it can separate details that belong together. Use a record-aware editor or spreadsheet operation for that structure.

Review duplicates before removing anything: repeated log entries may represent separate events. If deletion is your actual task, follow the separate guide to removing duplicate lines while keeping order. For a broader editorial check after rearranging a list, use the workflow for comparing two text drafts.