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To sort data **by multiple fields**, list **several columns separated by commas** after `ORDER BY`.

### Syntax

```sql
SELECT *
FROM table_name
ORDER BY field1 [ASC|DESC], field2 [ASC|DESC], field3 [ASC|DESC];
```

SQL sorts **in the order the fields are listed**:
first by the first one, then within each group by the second, and so on.

### Example

```sql
SELECT name, department, salary
FROM employees
ORDER BY department ASC, salary DESC;
```

What happens:

1. First, all rows are grouped by department, alphabetically (`ASC`);
2. Within each department, employees are sorted by salary, from largest to smallest (`DESC`).

### Another example

```sql
SELECT city, last_name, first_name
FROM clients
ORDER BY city ASC, last_name ASC, first_name ASC;
```

First clients are sorted by city,
then within that, by last name,
and if the last name matches, by first name.

**Summary:**
`ORDER BY` can contain several fields, SQL applies the sort **sequentially**, left to right.
Each field can be sorted **in its own direction** (`ASC` or `DESC`).

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