Problem
In the current Advanced Display Filter of Trados Studio, there is no way to sort segments based on the length of the target text. Users cannot quickly bring the shortest or longest target segments to the top of the editor view. This makes it unnecessarily difficult to review, edit, or validate segments that are either very concise (e.g., UI strings, short answers) or excessively long compared to the source.

Why this is important

• Efficiency when editing short segments – Translators often want to process very short target segments first (e.g., single words or short phrases) to get them out of the way or to ensure they are correct before handling longer, more complex sentences.

• Quality assurance – Long target segments may indicate potential issues (e.g., missing line breaks, overly verbose translations, or incorrect tag placement). Sorting by length would help reviewers spot anomalies faster.

• Consistency checks – When working with termbases or style guides, seeing the shortest targets first can help identify inconsistent handling of short terms across the file.

• Cognitive flow – Some linguists prefer to start with “easy” short segments to build momentum; others prefer to tackle long segments first. Providing both options supports different working styles.

Proposed solution
Add two new sorting criteria to the Advanced Display Filter drop‑down menu (or as separate buttons in the filter bar):

• Shortest first (ascending target character/word count)

• Longest first (descending target character/word count)
  
  

  note

  This feature already exists in other translation environments such as Phrase (formerly Memsource). I mention this not to compare tools in a competitive way, but simply to highlight that the functionality is technically feasible and widely appreciated by many linguists. Adding it to Trados Studio would align with common user expectations and further improve the editor’s flexibility.