What it understands
Full month names (September), three-letter abbreviations (Sep), and most other short forms (Sept) in any capitalization. The month can appear anywhere in the line. Lines in the same month are sorted by the numbers in them, so March 3 comes before March 14.
Lines without a month name move to the top.
Full dates
To sort by the whole date, year included, or by dates written as numbers like 3/14/2024, use Sort by date.
Birthdays
Before
Sam - March 14 Alex - December 2 Jo - Jan 30 Kim - March 3 Lee - August 9
After
Jo - Jan 30 Kim - March 3 Sam - March 14 Lee - August 9 Alex - December 2
Questions
Does it look at the year?
Only as a tie-breaker inside a month. It’s designed for lists like birthdays, schedules and seasonal items where the month is what matters. To sort by year too, use Sort by date.
Can I sort days of the week too?
Yes, with Sort by day of the week.
Does it understand short month names?
Yes. Jan, Feb, Sept and other abbreviations sort the same as the full names.