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MongoDB allows you to sort documents in a collection by multiple fields. To do this, use the sort() method in the MongoDB shell and specify a list of field names in ascending or descending order. This will sort the documents in the specified order and return the results in the same order. For example, db.collection.find().sort({field1:1, field2:-1}) will sort the documents by field1 in ascending order and then by field2 in descending order.
You can use the following syntax to sort documents in MongoDB by multiple fields:
db.myCollection.find().sort( { "field1": 1, "field2": -1 } )
This particular code sorts the documents in the collection called myCollection first by field1 ascending and then by field2 descending.
The following examples show how to use this syntax with a collection teams with the following documents:
db.teams.insertOne({team: "Mavs", points: 30, rebounds: 8})
db.teams.insertOne({team: "Spurs", points: 30, rebounds: 12})
db.teams.insertOne({team: "Rockets", points: 20, rebounds: 7})
db.teams.insertOne({team: "Warriors", points: 25, rebounds: 5})
db.teams.insertOne({team: "Cavs", points: 25, rebounds: 9})
Example 1: Sort by Multiple Fields in MongoDB (Ascending)
We can use the following code to sort the documents in the teams collection first by “points” ascending and then by “rebounds” ascending:
db.teams.find().sort( { "points": 1, "rebounds": 1 } )
This query returns the following results:
{ _id: ObjectId("61f952c167f1c64a1afb203b"),
team: 'Rockets',
points: 20,
rebounds: 7 }
{ _id: ObjectId("61f952c167f1c64a1afb203c"),
team: 'Warriors',
points: 25,
rebounds: 5 }
{ _id: ObjectId("61f952c167f1c64a1afb203d"),
team: 'Cavs',
points: 25,
rebounds: 9 }
{ _id: ObjectId("61f952c167f1c64a1afb2039"),
team: 'Mavs',
points: 30,
rebounds: 8 }
{ _id: ObjectId("61f952c167f1c64a1afb203a"),
team: 'Spurs',
points: 30,
rebounds: 12 }
Notice that the documents are sorted by the “points” field ascending (smallest to largest) and then by the “rebounds” field ascending (smallest to largest).
Example 2: Sort by Multiple Fields in MongoDB (Descending)
We can use the following code to sort the documents in the teams collection first by “points” descending and then by “rebounds” descending:
db.teams.find().sort( { "points": -1, "rebounds": -1 } )
This query returns the following results:
{ _id: ObjectId("61f952c167f1c64a1afb203a"),
team: 'Spurs',
points: 30,
rebounds: 12 }
{ _id: ObjectId("61f952c167f1c64a1afb2039"),
team: 'Mavs',
points: 30,
rebounds: 8 }
{ _id: ObjectId("61f952c167f1c64a1afb203d"),
team: 'Cavs',
points: 25,
rebounds: 9 }
{ _id: ObjectId("61f952c167f1c64a1afb203c"),
team: 'Warriors',
points: 25,
rebounds: 5 }
{ _id: ObjectId("61f952c167f1c64a1afb203b"),
team: 'Rockets',
points: 20,
rebounds: 7 }
Notice that the documents are sorted by the “points” field descending (largest to smallest) and then by the “rebounds” field descending (largest to smallest).
The following tutorials explain how to perform other common operations in MongoDB: