diff --git a/src/components/pages/Dashboard/index.tsx b/src/components/pages/Dashboard/index.tsx
index 4e0a6f1..8de2918 100644
--- a/src/components/pages/Dashboard/index.tsx
+++ b/src/components/pages/Dashboard/index.tsx
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import {
 import FileModal from 'components/File/FileModal';
 import MutedText from 'components/MutedText';
 import useFetch from 'lib/hooks/useFetch';
-import { usePaginatedFiles, useRecent } from 'lib/queries/files';
+import { PaginatedFilesOptions, usePaginatedFiles, useRecent } from 'lib/queries/files';
 import { useStats } from 'lib/queries/stats';
 import { userSelector } from 'lib/recoil/user';
 import { bytesToHuman } from 'lib/utils/bytes';
@@ -45,32 +45,24 @@ export default function Dashboard({ disableMediaPreview, exifEnabled, compress }
     })();
   }, [page]);
 
-  const files = usePaginatedFiles(page, 'none');
-
   // sorting
   const [sortStatus, setSortStatus] = useState<DataTableSortStatus>({
-    columnAccessor: 'date',
+    columnAccessor: 'createdAt',
     direction: 'asc',
   });
-  const [records, setRecords] = useState(files.data);
 
-  useEffect(() => {
-    setRecords(files.data);
-  }, [files.data]);
+  const files = usePaginatedFiles(page, {
+    filter: 'none',
 
-  useEffect(() => {
-    if (!records || records.length === 0) return;
-
-    const sortedRecords = [...records].sort((a, b) => {
-      if (sortStatus.direction === 'asc') {
-        return a[sortStatus.columnAccessor] > b[sortStatus.columnAccessor] ? 1 : -1;
-      }
-
-      return a[sortStatus.columnAccessor] < b[sortStatus.columnAccessor] ? 1 : -1;
-    });
-
-    setRecords(sortedRecords);
-  }, [sortStatus]);
+    // only query for correct results if there is more than one page
+    // otherwise, querying has no effect
+    ...(numFiles > 1
+      ? {
+          sortBy: sortStatus.columnAccessor as PaginatedFilesOptions['sortBy'],
+          order: sortStatus.direction,
+        }
+      : {}),
+  });
 
   // file modal on click
   const [open, setOpen] = useState(false);
@@ -203,7 +195,7 @@ export default function Dashboard({ disableMediaPreview, exifEnabled, compress }
               ),
             },
           ]}
-          records={records ?? []}
+          records={files.data ?? []}
           fetching={files.isLoading}
           loaderBackgroundBlur={5}
           loaderVariant='dots'
diff --git a/src/components/pages/Files/FilePagation.tsx b/src/components/pages/Files/FilePagation.tsx
index 57aba25..7303980 100644
--- a/src/components/pages/Files/FilePagation.tsx
+++ b/src/components/pages/Files/FilePagation.tsx
@@ -37,7 +37,9 @@ export default function FilePagation({ disableMediaPreview, exifEnabled, queryPa
     })();
   }, [page]);
 
-  const pages = usePaginatedFiles(page, !checked ? 'media' : null);
+  const pages = usePaginatedFiles(page, {
+    filter: !checked ? 'media' : 'none',
+  });
 
   if (pages.isSuccess && pages.data.length === 0) {
     if (page > 1 && numPages > 0) {
diff --git a/src/components/pages/Files/index.tsx b/src/components/pages/Files/index.tsx
index 9a03bbe..abde034 100644
--- a/src/components/pages/Files/index.tsx
+++ b/src/components/pages/Files/index.tsx
@@ -11,7 +11,10 @@ import PendingFilesModal from './PendingFilesModal';
 export default function Files({ disableMediaPreview, exifEnabled, queryPage, compress }) {
   const [favoritePage, setFavoritePage] = useState(1);
   const [favoriteNumPages, setFavoriteNumPages] = useState(0);
-  const favoritePages = usePaginatedFiles(favoritePage, 'media', true);
+  const favoritePages = usePaginatedFiles(favoritePage, {
+    filter: 'media',
+    favorite: true,
+  });
 
   const [open, setOpen] = useState(false);
 
diff --git a/src/lib/queries/files.ts b/src/lib/queries/files.ts
index 47cbfdb..6740c91 100644
--- a/src/lib/queries/files.ts
+++ b/src/lib/queries/files.ts
@@ -33,13 +33,23 @@ export const useFiles = (query: { [key: string]: string } = {}) => {
       );
   });
 };
-export const usePaginatedFiles = (page?: number, filter = 'media', favorite = null) => {
-  const queryBuilder = new URLSearchParams({
+
+export type PaginatedFilesOptions = {
+  filter: 'media' | 'none';
+  favorite: boolean;
+  sortBy: 'createdAt' | 'views' | 'expiresAt' | 'size' | 'name' | 'mimetype';
+  order: 'asc' | 'desc';
+};
+
+export const usePaginatedFiles = (page?: number, options?: Partial<PaginatedFilesOptions>) => {
+  const queryString = new URLSearchParams({
     page: Number(page || '1').toString(),
-    filter,
-    ...(favorite !== null && { favorite: favorite.toString() }),
-  });
-  const queryString = queryBuilder.toString();
+    filter: options?.filter ?? 'none',
+    // ...(options?.favorite !== null && { favorite: options?.favorite?.toString() }),
+    favorite: options.favorite ? 'true' : '',
+    sortBy: options.sortBy ?? '',
+    order: options.order ?? '',
+  }).toString();
 
   return useQuery<UserFilesResponse[]>(['files', queryString], async () => {
     return fetch('/api/user/paged?' + queryString)
diff --git a/src/pages/api/user/paged.ts b/src/pages/api/user/paged.ts
index 0210257..534c6cb 100644
--- a/src/pages/api/user/paged.ts
+++ b/src/pages/api/user/paged.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import { Prisma } from '@prisma/client';
+import { s } from '@sapphire/shapeshift';
 import config from 'lib/config';
 import prisma from 'lib/prisma';
 import { formatRootUrl } from 'lib/utils/urls';
@@ -5,12 +7,27 @@ import { NextApiReq, NextApiRes, UserExtended, withZipline } from 'middleware/wi
 
 const pageCount = 16;
 
+const sortByValidator = s.enum(
+  ...([
+    'createdAt',
+    'views',
+    'expiresAt',
+    'size',
+    'name',
+    'mimetype',
+  ] satisfies (keyof Prisma.FileOrderByWithRelationInput)[])
+);
+
+const orderValidator = s.enum('asc', 'desc');
+
 async function handler(req: NextApiReq, res: NextApiRes, user: UserExtended) {
-  const { page, filter, count, favorite } = req.query as {
+  const { page, filter, count, favorite, ...rest } = req.query as {
     page: string;
     filter: string;
     count: string;
     favorite: string;
+    sortBy: string;
+    order: string;
   };
 
   const where = {
@@ -33,7 +50,7 @@ async function handler(req: NextApiReq, res: NextApiRes, user: UserExtended) {
         },
       ],
     }),
-  };
+  } satisfies Prisma.FileWhereInput;
 
   if (count) {
     const count = await prisma.file.count({
@@ -48,6 +65,14 @@ async function handler(req: NextApiReq, res: NextApiRes, user: UserExtended) {
   if (!page) return res.badRequest('no page');
   if (isNaN(Number(page))) return res.badRequest('page is not a number');
 
+  // validate sortBy
+  const sortBy = sortByValidator.run(rest.sortBy || 'createdAt');
+  if (!sortBy.isOk()) return res.badRequest('invalid sortBy option');
+
+  // validate order
+  const order = orderValidator.run(rest.order || 'desc');
+  if (!sortBy.isOk()) return res.badRequest('invalid order option');
+
   const files: {
     favorite: boolean;
     createdAt: Date;
@@ -63,7 +88,7 @@ async function handler(req: NextApiReq, res: NextApiRes, user: UserExtended) {
   }[] = await prisma.file.findMany({
     where,
     orderBy: {
-      createdAt: 'desc',
+      [sortBy.value]: order.value,
     },
     select: {
       createdAt: true,