Remove Duplicates in Excel

This article teaches you how to remove duplicate entries from a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.

10 Second Summary

1. Open the Excel document.
2. Select your data group.
3. Click Data.
4. Click Remove Duplicates.
5. Click OK.

Steps

Removing Duplicates

  1. Double-click your Excel document. This will open the spreadsheet in Excel.
    • You can also open an existing document from the "Recent" section of the Open tab.
  2. Select your data group. To do so, click the top entry, hold down ⇧ Shift, and click the bottom entry.
    • If you're selecting multiple columns, click the top-left entry, then click the bottom-right entry while holding down ⇧ Shift.
  3. Click the Data tab. It's a tab on the left side of the green ribbon at the top of the Excel window.
  4. Click Remove Duplicates. This option is the "Data Tools" section of the Data toolbar near the top of the Excel window. A pop-up window will appear with the option of selecting or de-selecting columns.
  5. Make sure each column you wish to edit is selected. You'll see several column names (e.g., "Column A", "Column B") next to checkboxes; clicking a checkbox will de-select the column in question.
    • By default, all columns next to the one you select will be listed and checked here.
    • You can click Select All to select all of the columns listed.
  6. Click OK. Doing so will remove any duplicates from your Excel spreadsheet selection.
    • If no duplicates are reported when you know there are duplicates, try selecting one column at a time.

Highlighting Duplicates

  1. Double-click your Excel document. This will open the spreadsheet in Excel, allowing you to check it for cells containing duplicate values by using the Conditional Formatting feature. If you want to look for duplicates but don't want to delete them by default, this is a good way of doing so.
    • You can also open an existing document from the "Recent" section of the Open tab.
  2. Click the top-left cell in your data group. Doing so will select it.
    • Exclude headers (e.g., "Date", "Time", etc.) from your selection.
    • If you're just selecting one row, click the left-most entry.
    • If you're just selecting one column, click the top-most entry.
  3. Hold down ⇧ Shift and click the bottom-right cell. This will select any data between the top-left corner and the bottom-right corner of the data group.
    • If you're selecting one row, just click the right-most cell with data in it.
    • If you're selecting one column, just click the bottom-most entry with data in it.
  4. Click Conditional Formatting. It's in the "Styles" section of the Home tab. Doing so will prompt a drop-down menu.
    • You may first need to click Home near the top of the Excel window to view this option.
  5. Select Highlight Cells Rules. You'll see a window pop out from here.
  6. Click Duplicate Values. It's at the bottom of the pop-out menu. Clicking this option will select all duplicate values in your selected range.
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