How to Remove Duplicate Lines in Excel

Excel is a spreadsheet application made by Microsoft. It allows you to sort and manage large amounts of data on worksheets. At times, especially when you are importing new data, you may come across duplications. Do not fret, Excel has functionality built in to remove these duplicates.

Instructions

Excel 2003

1. Open the Excel file that has the duplicate data that you need to remove.

2. Highlight the data that you want to work with, then right-click and select "Copy." Click on an empty cell on your worksheet, right-click and choose "Paste." This step creates a backup copy of all the data.

3. Highlight the original data again.

4. Click the "Data" menu and then click "Filter." Scroll over and click "Advanced Filter."

5. Place the radio button next to "Filter the list, in place" in the "Advanced Filter" window. Put a check mark next to "Unique records only."

6. Click the "OK" button.

7. Delete the backup copy of your data once you are satisfied with the filtered list.

Excel 2007

1. Open the Excel file with the duplicate data.

2. Highlight the data you want to work with, then right-click and select "Copy." Move to an empty cell, right-click and choose "Paste." This step creates a backup copy of all your original data.

3. Highlight the original data again.

4. Click to select the "Data" tab. Click the "Remove Duplicates" button.

5. Choose the rows from which you want duplicates removed. Click the "OK" button, then "OK" again in the information box that appears indicating how many duplicates Excel found.

6. Delete the backup copy of your data once you are satisfied with the filtered list.

References

• Microsoft: Filter For Unique Values or Remove Duplicate Values
• Microsoft: Delete Duplicate Rows From A List In Excel
• Mr. Excel: Removing Duplicates In Excel
• Lyte Byte: How To Remove Duplicates In Excel 2003