#EXCEL FIND DUPLICATES BETWEEN 2 COLUMNS SERIAL#

вќє In the Duplicate Values dialog box, check that Duplicate is selected inside the bar. вќ№ Now go to Highlight Cells Rules > Duplicate Values. If youвЂ™d like to share a more efficient solution or a more complex problem, please start a conversation below.вќё Then click on the Conditional Formatting drop-down (under Styles group). Of course, there are other ways to identify multi-column duplicates in Excel. Simply add each column to the concatenating formula (column C in this example). This technique easily adapts to include additional columns. If the count is greater than 1, the formula returns the string вЂњHere I am! IвЂ™m a duplicate!вЂќ when the count isnвЂ™t greater than 1, the formula returns the string вЂњOriginal.вЂќ Only the first occurrence will be identified as Original. The IfCount() function counts the number of times the concatenated values occurВ within the extending range.

At this point, finding multi-column duplicates is as easy as sorting by column D (although this example doesnвЂ™t require any sorting). In cell D2 enter the following formula:.However, if your values contain times, it might, depending on how the time values were entered.

#EXCEL FIND DUPLICATES BETWEEN 2 COLUMNS SERIAL#

Excel uses each dateвЂ™s serial value, but that wonвЂ™t interfere with the technique. LetвЂ™s enhance the sheet above to see how this works:

Use CountIf() to count the number of combined values.

Concatenate the columns youвЂ™re checking.

You might try an advanced filter or even conditional formatting, but both would require so much hoop-jumping that IвЂ™m not sure the end result would be worth the fuss, when compared to the easy-to-implement solution that follows: ItвЂ™s not a good solution, especially if you have lots of data.

Even then, you have to trust your user to actually spot them. That means a user has to review at least five sets of records to find duplicates. In this case, there are five distinct dates. ItвЂ™s fairly easy to spot the duplicates, rows 8 and 9, in such a simple sheet, but what if you had hundreds or thousands of rows to check?ДЄn AutoFilter will work, but itвЂ™s a vulnerable solution. ThatвЂ™s what I mean by a multi-column duplicate. However, weвЂ™re interested in records that repeat the same date and the same initials. A few dates are repeated and a few initial sets are repeated they represent duplicates within those columns. The sheet below contains a column of dates and a column of initials. LetвЂ™s take a quick look at a simple example. You probably want a solution that kind of screams out at you Here I am! IвЂ™m a duplicate! So while itвЂ™s better than no solution at all, itвЂ™s not a good solution. A sort can work, but then you have to find the duplicate values.

Finding duplicates that span multiple columns is a tad more difficult. Duplicates that span multiple columns require a bit of setup, but the solution's not difficult to implement.ДЇinding duplicate values in the same column is easy you can sort or apply a filter depending on the circumstances. Use formulas to find multi-column duplicates in ExcelДuplicates in the same column are easy to find by sorting or filtering.

Excel find duplicates between 2 columns