Cleaning up spreadsheets has never been this easy
Ever since Google launched Sheets alongside Docs, it’s been getting active support and improvements that make it a powerhouse of a spreadsheet tool. Whether it’s auto-suggesting formulas or fixing them for you, Google hasn’t been hesitant to improve Sheets with beginner-friendly features. A great example is all the tools at your disposal in the formatting and data menus. There’s even a convenient way to clean up your spreadsheet if you were a little less than careful when copying and pasting data.
Although Google Sheets may not be quite as powerful as Microsoft Excel (yet), it can all but the most challenging tasks. It’s also a little easier to use than than the online version of Microsoft Office 365—especially if you primairly work in the cloud are thinking about ditching your old laptop for one of the best Chromebooks you can buy.
How to remove duplicates from Sheets
There are two main ways to remove duplicates from a Sheets dataset. You can use the =UNIQUE function, but it’s complicated and leaves you open to #REF errors, even if you’re careful. The other way is built into the data menu and is just as powerful as it is user-friendly. On top of that, the result is a cleaner set of data with no finicky functions you have to be careful of.
- First, identify the dataset you think has duplicates and highlight your data. You can highlight more columns and rows than you need, so long as you have all the suspected duplicates highlighted.
- Once your cells are selected, go to the Data menu, select Data cleanup, and choose Remove duplicates.
- A pop-up menu offers further options, such as ignoring certain columns, and if your data has a header row. Check the Data has header row box if your data has one, and then select Remove duplicates.
- After Sheets checks for duplicates, you’ll see a pop-up either telling you how many duplicate sets were removed from your document or that there were none.
- Once you’re finished, you’re left with a clean, duplicate-free dataset.
Start fresh with a clean worksheet
Not only have you removed all the duplicates, but you’ve done so without adding any extra functions to your data, so you’re free to delete, copy, paste, or change anything as you see fit, without fear of any unexpected errors popping up.
Now that you’ve cleaned up your data and averted a disaster, you might want to take a look at the best add-ons for Google Sheets, so you can become a spreadsheet power user.
