How to sort figure handles in MATLAB?

I have an array with multiple figure handles and would like to have them in a sorted order, by ascending figure number.

However when I call the sort function I do not always get the right order, and it changes between MATLAB sessions.

How can I get my figures sorted by their number?

Here is a reproduction example:

>> figs = [figure(1); figure(4); figure(2); figure(3)];
>> s_figs = sort(figs);

The result:

figs = 

  4×1 Figure array:

  Figure    (1)
  Figure    (4)
  Figure    (2)
  Figure    (3)

s_figs = 

  4×1 Figure array:

  Figure    (3)
  Figure    (2)
  Figure    (1)
  Figure    (4)

When I would like:

s_figs = 

  4×1 Figure array:

  Figure    (1)
  Figure    (2)
  Figure    (3)
  Figure    (4)

Answer 1

[MathWorks Support Team]

MATLAB does not sort figure handles based on their numbers but on another unrelated internal property.

One way to sort the figures by their number is to sort the numbers and then index back into your figure array like this:

>> figs = [figure(1); figure(4); figure(2); figure(3)];
>> n_figs = [figs.Number];
>> [~, s_idx] = sort(n_figs);
>> s_figs = figs(s_idx);