How To Find And Remove Duplicates In Microsoft Excel Or Google Sheets – SlashGear

Now that you understand why addressing copies in your data set is essential, the next step is resolving the issue.

To pinpoint duplicate entries, apply Excel’s conditional formatting feature:

1. Open the Excel worksheet containing the data in question.
2. Select the column or range you want to inspect for duplicates.
3. Navigate to the Home tab, and within the Styles group, click Conditional Formatting.
4. Opt for Highlight Cells Rules and subsequently Duplicate Values.
5. Choose your desired color format for emphasizing duplicates and confirm with OK.

There are several different methods to handle the duplicates, but using Excel’s built-in tool is the easiest.

1. Select the range containing duplicates.
2. Click on the Data tab. Then, click Remove Duplicates.
3. Select the columns that might have copies in the dialog box and press OK.
4. Excel will eliminate duplicate entries, leaving unique values.

This method might remove duplicates in your data that you’d like to keep, so if this happens, consider manually deleting the data cell by cell. While this might take longer, it’s a great way to keep your data intact.