List Cleanup Reference

The order matters

1. Trim each line

FIRST — the dedupe below needs it

2. Remove blank lines

drops whitespace-only lines with or without the trim

3. Deduplicate

MUST follow the trim — it compares RAW strings

4. Sort

optional — destroys any existing order

5. Number

LAST — it changes the text

What this tool does and does not touch

Trims

whitespace at the START and END of each line

Removes

blank and whitespace-only lines

Dedupes

exact matches, case-SENSITIVE, keeps the first

Does NOT

collapse double spaces INSIDE a line

Does NOT

change capitalisation or punctuation

Where it runs

your browser — nothing uploaded

Before pasting a cleaned list anywhere

• Line count checked before and after — a big drop means over-deduplication
• Case-only duplicates spotted? Convert case first, then clean
• Order still meaningful, if it ever was
• Trailing separators from a spreadsheet export removed
• Smart quotes checked if it came from a word processor
• Anything that should not leave the building — checked before pasting ANYWHERE
• Numbered last, if at all

A dedupe that runs too early removes nothing

Deduplication compares raw strings, so 'apple' and 'apple ' are two different lines. On a list that has been through a spreadsheet and an email, almost every duplicate has picked up different whitespace — which means a dedupe run before trimming will report success and remove barely anything. Trim first, always. This is the one ordering mistake that hides its own failure.

A cleaner that does less is easier to trust

This tool will not collapse the spaces inside your lines, fix your capitalisation, or strip punctuation — because each of those is a decision about your content rather than its formatting. Predictable is worth more than thorough when the thing being edited is a list of real people's names.