Remove duplicates in Google Sheets

Remove Duplicates offers 5 easy ways to deal with replicated data in your Google Sheets.

To look for all instances of values or check for unique records on one spreadsheet, use the Find duplicate or unique cells tool. Based on the settings you select, it will fill the results with color, copy or move them, or free cells from the values completely.

Find duplicate or unique rows as well as its one-step alternative Quick dedupe are perfect for when it comes to locating duplicate rows rather than single cells. Simply tick off key columns that should be scanned for uniques or dupes, and let the add-ons do the rest.

In case you need to check two ranges for duplicates, Compare columns or sheets is a tool to go. It compares your first table or column with another similar one and marks replicated or different data in the first dataset.

Combine duplicate rows will help whenever you need to merge or add up records from duplicate rows rather than delete them. It equips you with a set of functions to calculate numbers and with a few delimiters to bring values together instead. There's an option to use your own custom separators.

Compared to our add-on, the Remove duplicates tool embedded in Google Sheets offers significantly reduced functionality. Yes, it includes or ignores your header row and analyzes all or some columns of your table. But all it does with your data is literally — remove duplicate rows.

Our add-on finds not only dupes but also uniques and their 1st occurrences. It processes not only rows but also single cells and compares two sheets or columns for the same values. In addition, you decide what to do with the found records: mark them with color or in a status column, copy or move them to a specified place, clear cells, or delete entire rows.

To help you even more, we've made the add-on case and blanks sensitive (there are options to manage these) and made sure it backs up your data whenever you need.

Run Remove duplicate rows from the Dedupe & Compare group in Power Tools and do the following:

1. Select the range with your data.
2. Choose what to find:
   • Duplicates only
   • Duplicates + 1st occurrences
   • Uniques
   • Uniques + 1st occurrences
3. Select key columns to search in.
4. Decide what to do with the found records.
5. Click Finish.

See a more detailed description here.

Find Compare two sheets in the Dedupe & Compare group in Power Tools and follow these steps:

1. Select the main sheet.
2. Select the second sheet to compare with.
3. Choose what to find:
   • Duplicates
   • Uniques
4. Select the columns to compare.
5. Decide what to do with the found values.
6. Click Finish.

See a more detailed description here.

Run Remove duplicate cells from the Dedupe & Compare group in Power Tools and do the following:

1. Choose the type of cells to find:
   • Duplicates
   • Duplicates + 1st occurrences
   • Uniques only
   • Uniques + 1st occurrences
2. Decide what to do with the found cells.
3. Click Finish.

See a more detailed description here.

Run Combine rows from the Remove Duplicates add-on and follow these steps:

1. Select the data range.
2. Identify columns with duplicate records.
3. Choose the columns to combine and either:
   • Merge values using delimiters.
   • Or calculate numbers with the help of some functions.
4. Click Finish.

See a more detailed description here.

The key columns let the add-on check more than one column at the same time. For example, you have first and last names in different columns. If you choose them both in Find duplicate or unique rows, the tool will scan both columns at once to make sure you find duplicate full names instead of the same first names separate from their last names.

The add-on doesn't show what's the same and what's different in both ranges. It treats the first table (column) as the main one and simply compares it with another. Basically, the tool processes first dataset and makes changes to it compared with the contents of the second range.