Comments on: How to find duplicates in Excel: identify, highlight, count, filter

The tutorial explains how to search for duplicates in Excel. You will learn a few formulas to identify duplicate values or find duplicate rows with or without first occurrences. You will also learn how to count instances of each duplicate record individually and find the total number of dupes in a column, how to filter duplicates, and more. Continue reading

Comments page 4. Total comments: 264

  1. extremely killer tricks.... Brilliant.... Many wishes for you and best of luck...

  2. how can I set formula to move any duplicates document id to next 3 columns in excel? thanks

    document id: 1st allocation id 2nd allocation id 3rd allocation ID
    12345
    23456
    12356
    11236
    23456
    23562
    89712
    12345
    12346
    12356

    1. Hello!
      Sorry, it's not quite clear what you are trying to achieve. I don't see any pattern in your numbers. Could you please describe it in more detail? What result do you want to get?

  3. I am creating a quiz bank. I want to find duplicates within a row and then be able to copy the formula down a column. I tried using the formula =IF(COUNTIF(C1:I1,), "duplicate", ""). However it only returns duplicates of the first cell. I need to know if ANY of the cells in that row are duplicates. Please help!

    1. Hello!
      If I got you right, the formula below will help you with your task:

      =IF(SUM(--(COUNTIF(C1:I1,C1:I1)>1)) > 0,"duplicate","")

      After that, you can copy this formula down along the column.
      I hope it’ll be helpful.

      1. It works perfectly! Thank you SOOOOOOOO much!

    2. Sorry I just realized the formula i put in above is not the formula I am using. It is =if(countif(C1:I1,C1)>1 "duplicate", "")

  4. If the range is not continious, example A1:A5 and B1:B15 then how to check if the 15 values in these cells have duplicate or not

  5. Hey
    How to paste data in a merge cell
    Help me if u know

    1. Hello!
      I’m sorry but your task is not entirely clear to me.
      Please describe your problem in more detail. Write an example of the source data and the result you want to get. It’ll help me understand it better and find a solution for you. Thank you.

  6. Quick Question, Is there a way to set the 1st row of duplicate records to "Parent"
    I am using this formula: =IF(COUNTIFS($A$2:$A,A2,$B$2:$B,B2,$C$2:$C,C2)>1,"Child","Parent")
    Row 1 - Parent
    Row 2 - Child
    Row 3 - Child
    instead of
    Row 1 - Child
    Row 2 - Child
    Row 3 - Child
    Help is greatly appreciated.

    1. Hello!
      If I understand your task correctly, you need to set the first occurrence of a duplicate as Parent" marking the rest of them as "Child".
      Assuming that your table has no header, here is the right formula for you:

      =IF(COUNTIF(A1:$A$26,A1)>1, IF(AND(COUNTIF(A1:$A$26,A1)>1, MATCH(A1,$A$1:$A$26,0)=ROW(A1)), "Parent","Child"),"")

      If however, there is a 1-line header, the formula should be modified a little to look like the one below:

      =IF(COUNTIF(A2:$A$27,A2)>1, IF(AND(COUNTIF(A2:$A$27,A2)>1, MATCH(A2,$A$2:$A$27,0)=ROW(A2)-1), "Parent","Child"),"")

      Hope this is exactly what you need.

  7. ok I have an excel worksheet that I want to add a formula to catch duplicates throughout the worksheet. I don't want the 1st selected column ex:A2 to change I want it to carry down to where it catches any above it, Say I am on row A 15 I want it to look at rows A2-A14 to make sure the information I added in A15 wasn't on any above it. Can you help with this please?

  8. Good Afternoon!
    I have a workbook spreadsheet (SP1) that is pulling data from another workbook spreadsheet (SP2) using an if statement formula. In SP2, column A, I'm pulling data from SP1, column G. I would like to highlight the row in SP2 if a duplicate is found in column A. However, I'm not sure if I can do that with there already being a formula in each cell.
    To better clarify my question - Is there a way to highlight a row when the data pulled in column A duplicates, and to not highlight if no data is pulled or the result is "false".

    My issue right now is that because there is a formula in every cell when I use conditional formatting it ends up highlighting the entire workbook. I only want it to highlight if column A shows a duplicate result (A1 formula result shows: a, A5 formula result shows: a).

  9. Thanks, Svetlana
    It was awesome.

  10. Is there a way to find the exact location (using Index and Match) next to the first, second (and so on) duplicate value? Suppose Mary 100 and Donald 100 in a long list of names in column A and values in column B. Would it be possible using Index/Match to put "Mary" and "Donald" in the same order in Column C?

  11. Hi,
    I need to flag 1st duplicate and 2nd duplicate till nth duplicate with respect to date.
    for ex: 01/01/2010 is having data with duplicates and using COUNTIF it can return 1st duplicate and then 02/01/2020 is having same data and I need to flag second duplicate vice versa.

    I am using below formula
    "{=IF(COUNTIF($A$3:A3,A3)>1,"NX","X")}
    here "X" return with 1st duplicate value

  12. I need to find out the duplicates for the below...anybosy pl help me..
    For example..
    Apple
    Banana
    Apple
    Banana
    Apple
    Banana
    Apple
    Apple
    In the last 2 rows, word apple repeated...this need to be find out in the consecutive list....1 :1 ratio only allowed...pl help

  13. for same exact work or number finding duplicate is ok
    but i am looking for something like this
    apple,banana
    apple,mango
    mango,banana
    how to find same word in a cell for whole column

  14. Hi,
    How can i get duplicate value or text & unique value or text by using reference in excel.

  15. Thank you very much, I have gained a lot and I can identify easily the duplicates for following the formulas.

    Abdinasir

  16. Wondering if there is a formula to begin counting up every there is a change in the name column; as so:
    Name #
    1 1
    1 2
    1 3
    2 1
    2 2
    2 3
    3 1
    3 2
    3 3
    4 1
    5 1
    6 1
    6 2
    7 1
    7 2
    7 3
    8 1
    8 2
    8 3
    9 1
    9 2
    10 1
    11 1
    11 2
    11 3

  17. Please how do I check for duplicate interval. eg
    hole_id depth_from depth_to
    NGC12-018 0 1.5
    NGC12-018 1.5 2.3
    NGC12-018 2.3 3
    NGC12-018 3 8.2
    NGC12-018 8.2 10.7
    NGC12-018 10.7 17.3
    NGC12-018 17.3 20.6
    NGC12-018 20.6 23.5
    NGC12-018 20.6 23.5
    NGC12-018 23.5 27.9
    NGC12-018 27.9 31.7
    NGC12-018 31.7 36.7
    NGC12-018 36.7 43.4
    NGC12-018 36.7 43.4
    NGC12-018 43.4 48.2
    NGC12-018 48.2 49.5
    NGC12-018 49.5 64.5
    NGC12-018 64.5 67.5
    NGC12-018 67.5 72.6
    NGC12-018 72.6 81
    NGC12-018 81 86.55
    NGC12-018 86.55 90

  18. I am working on a list of not duplicate text cells but some are close.
    I want to know how to only find the cells that are incorrect.
    How do I do that?
    Here is an example.
    9086264 SENSOR RTD JACKET HEATING TETRA PAK ALLM O-RING 9531-4040-591 FALSE
    9086266 SEAL CYLINDER CLOSING TOOL SCRAPER ROD 9531-6131-516 FALSE
    9086267 ARM CASE SIDE CLOSING GASKET 9531-6130-516 FALSE
    9086270 TRAP STEAM DISC TD42H SPIRAX SARCO O-RING 9531-4021-591 FALSE
    I have a list of 20,000 items that I can not go through indivually. I just want to make sure the first few characters match.

  19. Kindly Solve My Query in below there is two value in a saprate cells , i wants comman value in output cell.

    Value 1 Value 2 Output (Comman No.)
    21452 23652 25

  20. Hi, I'm using the duplicate formula but trying to add an index part so that it shows up the duplicate reference. Where am I going wrong and how do I correct it? I have: =INDEX(E:E(IF(COUNTIF(F:F,[@WON])>1,"Duplicate","")),0)
    I want to show the contents of the duplicate cell from column E, if it has the same contents as another cell in column F. So if row 3 has the same column F value as row 5, I want B3 to show the cell value from E5.
    I hope this makes sense.
    Thanks

  21. 016230240
    016259070
    012350891

    If i would like to add a 6 in front of above number only, example 016 become 6016230240 , the back of 0 will appear 6 also if i find 0 and replace by 6, however i just like to have 6 infront of the number, what is the the process , pls help, thank you..

  22. Hi,

    How can I distinguish repeating brand names? For example:
    Gillette --> Gillette 1
    Gillette --> Gillette 2
    Pantene --> Pantene 1
    Gillette --> Gillette 3
    Head & Shoulders --> Head & Shoulders 1
    Pantene --> Pantene 2

  23. How can i arrange the Values of duplicate attendance number from below
    Attendace Value
    168755 41759002
    168755 41704067
    197119 40316326
    197119 40811539
    204786 41446987
    204786 41025753
    285943 41696614
    285943 41232806
    181907 40538480
    181907 40117598
    986727 40450723
    986727 41072614
    768565 40098263
    768565 40403845
    693968 40455014
    693968 40987284
    998263 40044440
    998263 40928398
    366864 41736203
    366864 41644887
    837218 40222382
    837218 40621245
    837218 4063258
    to
    Attendance Value 1 Value 2 Value3
    168755 41759002 41704067
    197119 40316326 40811539
    204786 41446987 41025753
    285943 41696614 41232806
    181907 40538480 40117598
    986727 40450723 41072614
    768565 40098263 40403845
    693968 40455014 40987284
    998263 40044440 40928398
    366864 41736203 41644887
    837218 40222382 40621245 4063258

  24. Hi
    am saikat patra from Howrah in west bengal.
    Can anyone help me about if count formula details given below.
    colum 1 colum 2
    78120 above10days
    78121 above10days
    78122 abovel0days
    78560 above5days
    78121 above10days
    How to count colum 2 tex wise to colum 1 shipment no without duplicate.
    ans should be if above10days basis is "3".
    please help me and very much gladfull to you for this.

  25. Hi,

    how can i get the duplication data for example i want the excel to read the data from 6 last alphabet of an email.

  26. Highlight duplicate values across multiple worksheets.
    I have a workbook with four worksheets. We are clearing out a storage center and listing the bins on worksheet "Empty Bins" as they become empty. Worksheets "Aisle 1", "Aisle 2", and "Aisle 3" list all the bins in the system.
    How do compare the data on worksheet "Empty Bins" to the data on the three other worksheets to find and highlight duplicates? Thank you.

  27. I have 55000 entries in a single column 10 digit numbers. I have to find duplicates. But the problem is the numbers may have difference by addition of excess 3 4 digits at the ending or starting.

  28. If duplicate is there, then I want result as first value in row1 against duplicate name. Any one pls. help to get result as mentioned in column3
    Eg, below.
    Column1---Column2---Column3(RESULT)
    1 -------Siva -------1
    2------- Kumar -------2
    3 -------Suresh ------3
    4 -------Siva ------1
    5 --------Kumar -----2

  29. I have a row with header in row1, for example; Boat1, Boat2, Boat3, Boat4, Boat5 and numbers in the next row, 5, 6, 7, 5, 4. I want to identify the duplicate headers or header/number, which in this case is Boat1, Boat4 or Boat1/5, Boat4/5. Happy for the result to be shown in two separate cells.

    Thank you

  30. good evening sir

    i have a problem that
    i type some values ie., 2,4,5,7,8,2,9 in a specific cell how to find out duplicate values in excel cell please send forumala for self use it is very need full to me

  31. dear all,
    is that able to find the decimal value from next column:

    1101
    1102
    1103
    1101H
    1102HR
    1103H

  32. hi
    I have a problem with deleting some specific data from large table which already have duplicate value , but I want only to find if my specific data in that table and delete it without removing the other duplicates

  33. Column1 Column2
    0 10
    10 20
    15 25

    in the above ranges 15-20 have been repeated and that has to be spotted and removed

  34. Hello!
    Could we make this:
    COUNTIF($A$2:A2,A2) to work in ArrayFormula()?

    When I try this
    =ARRAYFORMULA(C1:C&COUNTIF($C$1:C, $C$1:C))
    It shows a total number in each repeated cell like:
    a 4
    b 1
    c 2
    a 4
    a 4
    a 4
    c 2

    But I still need to receive

    a 1
    b 1
    c 1
    a 2
    a 3
    a 4
    c 2

    To have a full column with unique values based on another column with repeats.

    Big thanks in advance.
    Best

  35. how to find duplicate in a single row.

    example:

    Row1: 23 44 42 44 53 23 this row should be tagged as dulicate

    1. Prakash:
      Svetlana recently wrote a very good article on this topic. The article was published here on Ablebits on April 26.
      Enter "Find duplicates" in the search box and you'll see the article "How to find duplicates in Excel: identify, highlight count, filter, and more". Click on that link and once you've read the article you'll be able to accomplish what you want.

  36. Is it possible to get the number the duplicate in order that they appear?
    For example
    123,1
    124
    123,2
    123,3
    125
    123,4

    1. Frank:
      I don't see any duplicates in this data.
      Are you asking to match the first three digits?

  37. Dear Svetlana,
    I hope you can help me with the following question.
    I have a list of cities and some of them are repeated in the list. I would like to extract the row reference of all repeated city names (i.e for a given city: New York - is repeated in row 2, 7, 29, 33 etc).

    Is this possible?

    thank you,
    Kos

  38. Hi all Dear

    Can you help my question like this? i want to khnow formula use Auto in Group:

    Items Code Expiry Date Auto to Group
    1234567 1-Jan-18 01
    1234567 2-Feb-18 02
    1234567 3-Mar-18 03
    1234567 4-Apr-18 04
    1234567 5-May-18 05
    1234567 1-Jan-18 01
    1234567 3-Mar-18 03
    1234567 5-May-18 05

    Thank all dear.

  39. Hi,

    Thank you for all of the information on here.

    I am experiencing a range limit on the use of this calculation? For some reason it is only letting me check 20 rows, anything above that is returning a result of 0. Is this normal?

    What I really want to do is check an entire column in a table for values (there is about 1000), but as soon as i do this the returned value is zero. If it is less than 20, the returned value is acurate.

    I am using;
    =SUM(IF(ISTEXT(A28:A37)*COUNTIF(A28:A37,A28:A37)=1,1,0)) - works

    =SUM(IF(ISTEXT(A:A)*COUNTIF(A:A,A:A)=1,1,0)) - total is zero

    =SUM(IF(ISTEXT(A1:A37)*COUNTIF(A1:A37,A1:A37)=1,1,0)) - total is zero

  40. Dear Sir/Madam

    Please help
    I have following data.
    A1 = Maths/Bio. Gurpreet,Sandeep
    A2 = Physics Kuldeep
    A3 = Economics Priyanka
    A4 = Maths/Physics Gurpreet, Ramesh

    It's a school time table
    As I type the name "Gurpreet" in B1 it shows me duplicate
    I wish to find if some Teacher's name is repeated in Column A

    1. Create three separate columns. First column has the class name, the second has the teacher's name and the third has another teacher's name.
      Separate the teacher's names into two columns.
      Then, in a fourth column enter =COUNTIF(B:B,B1)>1
      The result will show "TRUE" if it is a duplicate.
      If you want to see if the teachers in column C are duplicates, just enter =COUNTIF(C:C,C1)>1 into column D.

  41. Thank you very much, Svetlana for these very comprehensive explanations about "duplicate issue" in Excel. I was trying to find out how to remove duplicates from the file and I have found an easy way in your article. All the best!

  42. Dear Team

    I want to extract a data in single formula. Suppose i have 10k Mobile No in my data in single column, i want to extract the count of unique Mobile Number suppose 7K mobile number is unq, so output of 7k updated in column 1 and rest duplicate value is 0. I have using Pivot every time for count the unique mobile no..

    Kindly help

  43. Hello,

    I need to remove duplicates inside specific cells.

    7G4285-49,7G4202-72,7G4202-72,7G4202-72,7G4202-72,7G4202-72,7G4202-72
    7G4285-49,7G4285-49,7G4285-49
    7G4285-49,7H4202-72,7H4202-72,7H4382-49
    7H4203-72,7H4203-72,7H4203-72,7G4282-49,7H4383-49,7G4202-72
    7H4382-25,7H4382-49
    7H4382-25,7H4382-49

    I need to keep only one value for each cell.

    Thanks,
    Bogdan

  44. What happen if the information exceeds 255 characters?, I have to compare whole row but if I excced 255 characters i received #VALUE error

  45. Duplicate of same names not written in the same order

  46. DD MM YYYY DD/MM/YYYY
    06 04 2017 06.04.17
    25 04 2017 25.04.17
    23 03 2017 23.03.17
    08 08 2017 08.08.17
    02 09 2017 02.09.17
    30 12 2014 30.12.14
    21 01 2015 21.01.15
    29 03 2015 29.03.15

    I FILL UP SOME DATE OF BIRTH DEFIRANT CELL(25 DAYS 04 MONTH 2017 YEAR) HOW TO MAKE TOGATHER NEXT CELL 25.04.2017 OR 25/04/2017

    PLEASE SOLVE IT.

    1. Hello,

      Please try to solve your task with the help of the Merge Cells tool which is a part of our Ultimate Suite for Excel. You can download its fully functional 14-day trial version using this direct link.
      After you install the product, you will find Merge Cells in the Merge section under the Ablebits Data tab.

      Hope this will help you with your task.

  47. Hi, I'm trying to highlight, and so prevent duplicates in a number of cells. For example if I am designing an appointment time slot of 09:00, 10:00 and 11:00 across B22:B24 how can I get Excel to highlight that configuration if the same slotting is repeated/redesigned in AL22:AL24?

  48. Hello,
    I am using your array formula to count duplicates in a column. In it's current form, it also counts the empty cells as duplicates. Is there a way to make it ignore empty cells?

    {=ROWS($A:$A)-SUM(IF( COUNTIF($A:$A,$A:$A)=1,1,0))}

    My second questions is - Can you adjust the formula to make it ignore the original in the count?
    For example, if a result in the column occured twice it would count two, but only one is the duplicate since the first is the original. I would like it to count only one for each pair or two there are three of the same value, etc.

    D

  49. For EX

    we have a location

    DEL-LON
    LON-JFK
    MCO-TPA

    We have to find that DEL or LON or JFK or MCO or TPA are repeating how many times in each row.

    1. Hello, pankaj,

      I'm afraid there's no easy way to solve your task with a formula. Using a VBA macro would be the best option here.

      However, since we do not cover the programming area (VBA-related questions), I can advice you to try and look for the solution in VBA sections on mrexcel.com or excelforum.com.

      Sorry I can't assist you better.

  50. Hi,

    I am wondering if someone could help me?

    I have some data with 2 columns of interest. One column is the case number and the other is number of days the case took to complete. Given the inadequacies of the search tool available, I have multiple duplicates for some of the cases. Not all cases are duplicated, and those that have been duplicated have been duplicated anywhere between 2 and 6 times. With each case duplicate, I have another time value generated. Some of these time values are the same for all duplicates, some are different, and they are not in numerical order.

    What I am trying to do is for each case, to pick out the largest time value.

    The example below might make more sense:

    What I have- What I want-
    CASE TIME CASE TIME
    A 2 A 5
    A 1
    A 5
    B 4 B 4
    C 3 C 3
    C 1
    D 4 D 4
    D 4
    D 4
    E 1 E 1
    F 2 F 6
    F 2
    F 6
    F 2
    F 2
    F 2

    Hopefully someone can get further with it that I have been able to! Thank you in advance!

    1. (sorry the example, but clearer hopefully!)

      What I have-
      CASE TIME
      A 2
      A 1
      A 5
      B 4
      C 3
      C 1
      D 4
      D 4
      D 4
      E 1
      F 2
      F 2
      F 6
      F 2
      F 2
      F 2

      What I want-
      CASE TIME
      A 5
      B 4
      C 3
      D 4
      E 1
      F 6

      1. Hello, Hannah,

        Please try to solve your task with the help of the Consolidate Sheets tool which is a part of our Ultimate Suite for Excel. You can download its fully functional 14-day trial version using this direct link.
        After you install the product, you will find Consolidate Sheets in the Merge section under the Ablebits Data tab. To get the result you need, you should choose the following options on step 2 of the Wizard:
        1. Select the “Max” function to consolidate your data from the drop-down list;
        2. Choose the “Consolidate by label” option and tick both check-boxes next to “Use header label” and “Use left column label”.

        Hope this will help you with your task.

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