Notepad++ remove duplicates, remove blank lines and sort data in one operation

Notepad++ with the TextFX plugin makes it quick and easy to remove duplicates, remove blank lines and sort data in one operation. This is a typical case where Excel does the job, but as I always have Notepad++ open it is fast and easy to get the results I want in just a few seconds.

Remove duplicates, remove blank lines and sort data in one operation

1. Paste the text into Notepad++ (CTRL+V). As you can see, there were 473 lines and half of them were blank.

2. Mark all the text (CTRL+A). Click TextFX → Click TextFX Tools → Check +Sort outputs only UNIQUE (at column) lines (if not already checked).

3. Click TextFX → Click TextFX Tools → Click Sort lines case insensitive (at column)

4. Duplicates and blank lines have been removed and the data has been sorted alphabetically. (The first line that may appear empty contains a space, which is regarded as a character and is included in the list of unique data.)

This is a handy feature somewhat hidden away in the menu, and it has saved me a lot of time already.