Get the maximum element in MongoDB collection?

To get the maximum element from a MongoDB collection, use the sort method with descending order combined with limit(1) to retrieve only the document with the highest value.

Syntax

db.collection.find().sort({"fieldName": -1}).limit(1);

Sample Data

db.demo669.insertMany([
    {"Marks": 76},
    {"Marks": 55},
    {"Marks": 89},
    {"Marks": 88},
    {"Marks": 79}
]);

{
    "acknowledged": true,
    "insertedIds": [
        ObjectId("5ea3133c04263e90dac943d9"),
        ObjectId("5ea3133f04263e90dac943da"),
        ObjectId("5ea3134204263e90dac943db"),
        ObjectId("5ea3134504263e90dac943dc"),
        ObjectId("5ea3134e04263e90dac943dd")
    ]
}

Display All Documents

db.demo669.find();

{ "_id": ObjectId("5ea3133c04263e90dac943d9"), "Marks": 76 }
{ "_id": ObjectId("5ea3133f04263e90dac943da"), "Marks": 55 }
{ "_id": ObjectId("5ea3134204263e90dac943db"), "Marks": 89 }
{ "_id": ObjectId("5ea3134504263e90dac943dc"), "Marks": 88 }
{ "_id": ObjectId("5ea3134e04263e90dac943dd"), "Marks": 79 }

Get Maximum Element

db.demo669.find().sort({"Marks": -1}).limit(1);

{ "_id": ObjectId("5ea3134204263e90dac943db"), "Marks": 89 }

How It Works

• sort({"Marks": -1}) arranges documents in descending order by the Marks field
• limit(1) returns only the first document from the sorted result
• The combination gives you the document with the maximum value

Conclusion

Use sort({"field": -1}).limit(1) to efficiently retrieve the document with the maximum value in any field. This approach works for both numeric and string fields in MongoDB collections.