How to identify duplicate rows in excel

Answer

To identify duplicate rows in Excel, you can use multiple approaches depending on your preference and version of Excel. Duplicate rows are rows where all the cell values in selected columns are exactly the same.

Method 1: Using Conditional Formatting

1. Select the range of rows you want to check for duplicates.

2. Go to the Home tab.

3. Click on Conditional Formatting → Highlight Cells Rules → Duplicate Values.

4. In the dialog box, choose Duplicate and select a formatting color.

5. Click OK.
   Excel will highlight all duplicate values. If you want to highlight entire rows:

6. Select the range of rows.

7. Click Conditional Formatting → New Rule → Use a formula to determine which cells to format.

8. Enter the formula, assuming you want to check duplicates based on columns A, B, and C (starting at row 2): 

   =COUNTIFS($A$2:$A$100,$A2,$B$2:$B$100,$B2,$C$2:$C$100,$C2)>1

9. Choose a format and click OK.

Method 2: Using Excel’s Remove Duplicates Tool

1. Select the table or range containing your data.

2. Go to the Data tab.

3. Click Remove Duplicates.

4. In the dialog, check all columns you want to consider for duplicates.

5. Click OK.
   Excel will tell you how many duplicate rows were found and removed. This method identifies duplicates without highlighting; it deletes them unless you copy the data first.

Method 3: Using a Helper Column

1. Insert a new column next to your data.

2. Enter the formula to combine all columns, assuming columns A, B, and C (starting at row 2):   

   =A2&B2&C2

3. Drag the formula down for all rows.

4. Use COUNTIF on this helper column to flag duplicates:   

   =IF(COUNTIF($D$2:$D$100,D2)>1,"Duplicate","Unique")

5. This will mark each row as "Duplicate" or "Unique".

Notes

• On Windows and Mac, the steps for Conditional Formatting and Remove Duplicates are almost identical. The only difference is that Mac uses Cmd instead of Ctrl for shortcuts.

• Conditional Formatting only highlights duplicates, while Remove Duplicates permanently deletes them unless you copy the range first.

• Using a helper column gives flexibility to combine multiple columns and can be adapted for large datasets.

This approach ensures you can quickly identify, highlight, or handle duplicate rows in Excel efficiently.

Yes · 0 No · 0 Add Comment · 0

Add ·

Report