Do you have to work with messy sheets filled with numerous columns of information? Mastering the techniques to delete duplicates in Excel makes a huge difference in a data management and analysis procedure. Below are the steps to include in the guide on how to effectively delete duplicate values in an Excel spreadsheet with ease.
If you wish to delete multiple records in excel just to get a clean list or if you have to find out some highly professional tips on how to delete multiple entries in excel, this tutorial will surely come in handy for you. Utilizing these Excel data cleaning tips, you will master how best to work on your data and come up with testy reports. So, in this article, we will look through the process and reveal the how to remove duplicates in excel in Excel and produce time-saving techniques to boost your efficiency.
Detecting and finding duplicates in Excel
Before making a decision to keep or delete, it is necessary to look for duplicates in Excel. Here’s how you can easily identify duplicates in your dataset:
Step 1: The first activity involves choosing of data
You actually work with the Excel spreadsheet – right click the sheet tab and choose the option “Select All” on the options display – select the data set that you think contains more than one of the same records in the column highlighted.
Step 2: Using conditional formatting.
Select Home.
You find conditional formatting on the toolbar so click on it.
Go to Home > find conditional formatting or right-click on the cells > hover over Highlight Cells Rules > and choose Duplicate Values.
Step 3: Select the color for highlighting
A dialog box will appear . Select the style of the color that you want to be used to highlight the duplicate values then OK it. Your duplicate documents will now be shaded with the color chosen.
Step 4: Review of the highlighted data/analysis
This also increases the risk of duplicate entries; to identify which cells are duplicates, go to the highlighted cells section.
How to Remove Duplicates in Excel
In case you have enabled merging of records then you are able to eliminate the duplicates using different techniques. The following are four very efficient methods that can be employed in order to delete duplicates in Excel.
Method 1: Using the Data Tab to Eliminate Duplicates
Step 1: Choosing the data
Start Excel and then highlight the data range that you want to use in your data analysis from which you will weed out duplicates.
Step 2: Click Data on the top of the Home School.
On the toolbar go to Data and then select Remove Duplicates.
Step 3: Select Columns
On the opened pop-up window, choose the columns for which you are going to check duplicates. If your sample data contains rows with labels for the columns, then mark the My data has headers box. Click OK.
Step 4: The MR process
Excel will offer a message indicating the number of duplicates you have removed as well as the number of unique values you have in the adjacent cell.
Method 2: Eliminate Duplicates with the Advanced Filter Option
- The very first step to undertake in order to execute this assignment is to choose the data which is vital for the proper completion of every following stage.
- Navigate to the Excel file, and then highlight the data set.
- Move to the next step by choosing Tools and then, click the Data Tab.
- Go to the Data tab and under the Sort & Filter, click on the advanced.
- The last step is commonly called ‘Configuring the Advanced filter’
- In the Advanced Filter dialog box, for the Type select Copy to another location. Click on the destination range and select the Unique records only option in the tool’s toolbar. Click OK.
- This fourth step involves reviewing the results where the objective is to reanalyze the findings identified in order to draw conclusions from them.
- Excel will then transfer only the unique records to the required place eliminating issues of duplicate values within the database.
Method 3: Erasing repetitive items with Formulas
- Step 1: Combine Columns: In case, your data is more than one column, create one new column that holds the combination of the actual different columns using the & operator. For example, =A2&B2&C2.
- Step 2: Use the COUNTIF Function: Develop another column to compute the combination entry occurrences using the formula for COUNTIF function. For example, =COUNTIF($D$2:$D$100, D2).
- Step 3: Filter and Remove Duplicates: The data then has to be sorted to display only the rows that have count as 1 then the displayed rows are erased.
- Step 4: Involves the deletion of the Helper columns: Subsequently, the duplicates from the merged and counted columns can be deleted alongside the helper columns used in the process.
Method 4 – Power Query Tool In this method step
Step 1: the process where data is pulled from the source through Power Query
Choose your data set, click on the Data tab and this time choose From Table/Range to feed the data into Power Query.
Step 2: Getting Rid of Duplicates in Power Query
To remove the duplicate rows in Power Query, go to the Query Editor, then under the Home tab choose Remove Rows, then Remove Duplicates.
Step 3: Close and Load
Once the duplicates have indeed been eradicated, click on Close and Load in order to bring the fresh and clean data into the excel spreadsheet.
Conclusion
Erasing duplicates differs from constraining the records, but it is equally vital since it helps to keep Excel neat and meaningful. Simply, by reading this article, you will be able to improve your excel skills and know how to remove duplicates in excel from your datasets. Application of formula in Excel that enables one to eliminate the repetitions of values in a list is useful in that it allows for retention of only the values or parts that are unique and thus increases one’s efficiency and credibility in his/her reports.
FAQs
Ans: Conditional Formatting will allow you to color such duplicated records without deleting them from the list. This lets you have a view of the duplicate files and in a position to decide on whether to delete them.
Ans: Yes, you can use such formulas as COUNTIF together with filters to find and remove the double values with the help of operations in manual mode.
Ans: What you can do is use the Remove Duplicates tool located in the Data tab of the spreadsheet’s toolbar; it retains the first instance of a set of copied data and erases all the others.
Ans: Make sure that the right range is chosen and that columns to be searched for duplicates in the Remove Duplicates dialog box are correctly chosen.
Ans: Make sure that the right range is chosen and that columns to be searched for duplicates in the Remove Duplicates dialog box are correctly chosen.
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