An apparatus for unscrambling articles, in particular containers fed randomly to an inlet of the apparatus, includes a transport system for transporting the articles fed to the inlet, devices for picking and releasing the articles configured to pick up the articles arranged randomly on the transport system and release them to an extraction system with a predefined orientation and/or position, a detection system designed to detect the position and the arrangement of the articles in transit on the transport system and to provide the information for controlling the pick and release devices, and a unit for processing and controlling the components and the drives of the apparatus. The extraction system includes a plane for supporting the containers being extracted and means for extracting the articles, designed to pick up the articles released by the pick and release devices and transport them on the plane towards the outlet of the apparatus.