Remove duplicates
Delete repeated rows from a merged list, and choose which columns decide what counts as a duplicate.
Do this lesson on your computer.
It runs beside a practice Excel in your browser, and every step is checked as you go. Free, with no sign-up.
On your computer, go tolearnford.com/go/2R5R
- Skill
- Data cleaning
- Stage
- Confident
- Paths
- Excel test prepClean up messy data
In this lesson
- Select the whole list, headers included, then Data, then Remove Duplicates.
- A row is a duplicate when every ticked column matches an earlier row.
- The first row from the top stays. Sort first if you want to keep the newest row instead.
The steps
12 steps: 4 explanations, 6 Do this, 2 questions, then Your turn.
Cheat sheet
- Select the whole list, headers included, then Data, then Remove Duplicates.
- A row is a duplicate when every ticked column matches an earlier row. Tick every column to remove exact copies. Tick one column (an email or an ID) to keep one row per value.
- The first row from the top stays. Sort first if you want to keep the newest row instead.
- Keep My data has headers ticked so row 1 is never compared or deleted.
- The rows are deleted, not hidden. Ctrl+Z (Windows) or Cmd+Z (Mac) brings them back; on a big list, work on a copy.
- Excel's message says "duplicate values found and removed", Google Sheets' says "duplicate rows". Either way, whole rows of your selection are removed.