How to Delete Duplicates in Google Sheets: A Step-by-Step Guide

Hey, there! Are you trying to organize your data in Google Sheets? Is it driving you crazy that you have duplicate rows that keep popping up? Well, I have good news for you. You can easily delete duplicates in Google Sheets using a few simple steps. In this guide, I'll show you how. First off, let's discuss what duplicates are. Duplicates are rows that have the same data in all columns. They may have the same entries in all columns or only in some columns. Naturally, it can be challenging to spot duplicates when you have hundreds or even thousands of rows in a sheet. That's when using the built-in duplicate function in Google Sheets can save you loads of time. Now, let's look at how to delete duplicates in Google Sheets.

Step 1: Open your Google Sheet

Of course, the first step is to open your sheet in Google Sheets. Click on your sheet from your Google Drive, and select "Open with Google Sheets." You should see all the rows and columns on your sheet.

Step 2: Select the data

Select all the rows and columns that you want to check for duplicates. You can do this by clicking and dragging your cursor or by using "Ctrl + A" (Windows) or "Command + A" (Mac) to select everything on the page.

Step 3: Click on "Data" in the top menu

Once you've selected the data, click on "Data" in the top menu. You will see a dropdown menu.

Step 4: Click on "Remove duplicates"

From the dropdown menu, select "Remove duplicates" at the bottom of the list. A new window will open, showing you all the columns that you have selected.

Step 5: Select the columns where you want to remove duplicates

You can decide to remove duplicates using all columns or only specific columns. Make sure to tick the checkboxes for the columns you want to use. By default, Google Sheets selects all columns for you.

Step 6: Choose how to handle duplicates

You have two choices on how to handle duplicates. You can either remove the duplicate rows or highlight them for you to decide what to do. To remove duplicate rows, select "Remove duplicates," and to highlight duplicate rows, select "Data has header row" and "Filter."

Step 7: Click "Remove duplicates" or "Filter"

Once you have made your choices, click on the appropriate button. If you choose "Remove duplicates," Google Sheets will immediately delete the duplicate rows for you. On the other hand, if you chose "Filter," Google Sheets will highlight the duplicate rows and keep them visible for you to decide what action to take.

Step 8: Save your changes

Don't forget to save your changes by clicking on "File" in the top menu. You can then choose "Save" or "Save as" and name your file.

Conclusion

That's it! Deleting duplicates in Google Sheets isn't hard at all. You can do it in a few simple steps and save yourself a lot of time and frustration. Go ahead and try it out the next time you're working on a Google Sheet with duplicates. I hope this guide has been helpful to you!