---
id: top
title: top Search Operator
sidebar_label: top
description: Use the top operator with the sort operator to reduce the number of sorted results returned.
slug: /help/docs/search/search-query-language/search-operators/top/
canonical: https://www.sumologic.com/help/docs/search/search-query-language/search-operators/top/
---

import useBaseUrl from '@docusaurus/useBaseUrl';

Use the `top` operator with the [`sort`](/docs/search/search-query-language/search-operators/sort) operator to reduce the number of sorted results returned.

:::tip
We recommend you use the [`topk`](/docs/search/search-query-language/search-operators/topk) operator instead so you can take advantage of its additional functionality.
:::

## Syntax

`top <#> <field> [by <group_by_operator>]`

## Examples

#### List the Top 5 source categories with errors

Use the following query to list the top 5 source categories with errors, and get their count.

```sumo
error | top 5 _sourceCategory
```

which produces results like:

<img src={useBaseUrl('img/reuse/query-search/top_example1.png')} alt="Example" style={{border: '1px solid gray'}} width="200" />

You can use the following query to get the same results, but make the
count explicit:

```sumo
error | top 5 _sourceCategory by count
```

#### List the Top 10 source categories by message time

This query lists the top 10 source categories by message time, without
an explicit count.

```sumo
error | top 10 _sourceCategory by _messagetime
```

which produces results like:

<img src={useBaseUrl('img/reuse/query-search/top_example3.png')} alt="Another example" style={{border: '1px solid gray'}} width="300" />