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EXCEL FIND DUPLICATES AND COMBINE FOR FREE

The aim is to combine both with no redundant records: There is redundant data in both sheets as well as unique data. Redundant data can be removed from the Excel worksheets by using macros that can compare and combine unique data in Excel sheets.

EXCEL FIND DUPLICATES AND COMBINE FOR FREE

There are several macros available for free that can be downloaded from the internet and tweaked according to the requirements.Īlthough the macros are not required to be written from scratch, some knowledge of programming concepts such as if -else- loops and nested loops can prove useful when writing macros for Excel office software.

Editor’s note: In the video, Brandon Vigliarolo uses Microsoft Office 365 and walks through the steps of finding, identifying, and removing duplicate data in Excel.Comparing two Excel sheets and combining the unique data can be done with the help of macros. The following tutorial by Susan Harkins was originally published in January 2009. In the duplicate world, definition means everything. That’s because a duplicate is subjective to the context of its related data. Duplicates can occur within a single column, across multiple columns, or complete records. To find duplicate records, use Excel’s easy-to-use Filter feature as follows: LEARN MORE: Office 365 Consumer pricing and features There’s no one feature or technique that will find duplicates in every case.

From the Data menu, choose Filter and then select Advanced Filter to open the Advanced Filter dialog box.

Select Copy To Another Location in the Action section.

Enter a copy range in the Copy To control.

Check Unique Records Only and click OK.Įxcel will copy a filtered list of unique records to the range you specified in Copy To.

Use conditional formatting to highlight duplicates in a single column as follows: At this point, you can replace the original recordset with the filtered list (the copied list) if you want to delete the duplicates.įinding duplicates in a single column or across multiple columns is a bit more difficult.

Using the example worksheet, select cell A2.

When applying this to your own worksheet, select the first data cell in the list (column).

Choose Conditional Formatting from the Format menu.

Choose Formula Is from the first control’s drop-down list.

In the formula control, enter =COUNTIF(A:A,A2)>1.

Click the Format button and specify the appropriate format.

With cell A2 still selected, click Format Painter.Īt this point, the Conditional Formatting dialog box should resemble the following figure: For instance, click the Font tab and choose Red from the Color control and click OK.

Select the remaining cells in the list (cells A3:A5 in the example worksheet).

The conditional format will highlight any value in column A that’s repeated.

If you want Excel to highlight only the copies, leaving the first occurrence of the value unaltered, enter the formula =COUNTIF($A$2:$A2, A2)>1 in step 4. The conditional format works great for a single column.

For example, if you wanted to find duplicates of both first and last names in the example worksheet, you’d enter the following formula in cell D2 to concatenate the first and last name values: To find duplicates across multiple columns, use two expressions: One to concatenate the columns you’re comparing a second to count the duplicates. You could insert a space character between the two names if you liked, but it isn’t necessary. Next, in cell E2 enter the following formula and copy it to accommodate the remaining list: Copy the formula to accommodate the remaining list items. Notice that the worksheet has a new record (row 6). This record duplicates the first name, Susan, but not the last name.