How to remove duplicates in excel

Remove duplicates in Excel is daunting but here is the Solution

Duplicate data can often cause problems when working with Excel spreadsheets. For example, it can lead to incorrect calculations, make data analysis more difficult, and lead to confusion. Fortunately, Excel provides several built-in tools that you can use to remove duplicates easily.

Using the Remove Duplicates tool

Excel’s Remove Duplicates tool is a simple yet powerful tool that can help you quickly identify and remove duplicates from your spreadsheet. To use the tool, follow these steps:

1. Select the data range from which you want to remove duplicates.
2. Click the “Data” tab in the ribbon.
3. Click “Remove Duplicates” in the “Data Tools” group.
4. In the “Remove Duplicates” dialog box, select the columns that contain the duplicate values that you want to remove.
5. Click “OK”.

Excel will remove all duplicate values from the selected columns and leave only unique values behind.

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Using conditional formatting

Another way to identify and remove duplicates in Excel is by using conditional formatting. This technique is particularly useful when you want to highlight duplicate values visually before removing them. To use conditional formatting to remove duplicates, follow these steps:

1. Select the data range from which you want to remove duplicates.
2. Click the “Home” tab in the ribbon.
3. Click “Conditional Formatting” in the “Styles” group.
4. Click “Highlight Cells Rules” and select “Duplicate Values”.
5. In the “Duplicate Values” dialog box, select the formatting style that you want to apply to the duplicate values.
6. Click “OK”.

Excel will highlight all duplicate values in the selected data range, making them easy to identify. You can then manually delete the duplicate values or use the “Remove Duplicates” tool.

Using formulas to remove duplicates

Excel also provides several formulas that you can use to identify and remove duplicates from your spreadsheet. The most commonly used formula is the “COUNTIF” formula, which counts the number of times a value appears in a range. To use the “COUNTIF” formula to remove duplicates, follow these steps:

1. In a new column, enter the following formula: =COUNTIF(range,cell)
2. Replace “range” with the range of cells that you want to check for duplicates.
3. Replace “cell” with the first cell in the range.
4. Drag the formula down to the last cell in the range.

The “COUNTIF” formula will count the number of times each value appears in the range. You can then sort the range by the count column and delete the rows that contain duplicate values.