{"id":71085,"date":"2024-01-25T18:00:56","date_gmt":"2024-01-25T10:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/?p=71085"},"modified":"2024-01-24T15:34:41","modified_gmt":"2024-01-24T07:34:41","slug":"google-sheets-highlight-duplicates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/google-sheets-highlight-duplicates\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Highlight Duplicated Cells in Google Sheets"},"content":{"rendered":"

Are you searching for a method to easily identify duplicate content in your Google Sheets, particularly in large datasets? Fortunately, there\u2019s a straightforward technique. By adjusting a few simple settings, you can automatically highlight duplicate content\/data in your chosen color. Then, decide whether to keep or delete these duplicates. It\u2019s quite simple.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the step-by-step guide to setting it up.<\/p>\n

Highlight Duplicate Data in Google Sheets<\/h2>\n

Suppose you have a spreadsheet with a column of names in Column B<\/em> and need to pinpoint the duplicates. Instead of manually scanning each name, Google Sheets can automatically highlight them for you.<\/p>\n

\"Column<\/figure>\n

To highlight duplicated data in Column B<\/em> of Google Sheets, you\u2019ll use Conditional Formatting<\/strong> with a custom formula.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how you can do it:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Select the entire Column B<\/em> by clicking on its header.<\/li>\n
    \"Highlighting<\/figure>\n
  2. Navigate to the menu and select Format<\/strong> > Conditional formatting<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
    \"Conditional<\/figure>\n
  3. In the \"Conditional format rules<\/strong>\" sidebar on the right, under the \u201cFormat cells if<\/strong>\u201d dropdown, choose \"Custom formula is<\/strong>\".<\/li>\n
    \"Custom<\/figure>\n
  4. Input the following formula: =countif(B:B, B1)>1<\/code>. This formula calculates how often the value in each cell of Column B<\/em> appears in the entire column. If a value appears more than once, the formatting you choose will be applied to those cells.<\/li>\n
    \"Inserting<\/figure>\n
  5. Select your desired formatting style, like background color, for the duplicate cells, and then click \u201cDone<\/strong>\u201c.<\/li>\n
    \"Choosing<\/figure>\n<\/ol>\n

    Once you\u2019ve completed these steps, any cell in Column B with a value that appears more than once elsewhere in the column will be highlighted in the style you selected.<\/p>\n

    \"Highlighted<\/figure>\n

    Another Simple Method\u2026<\/h2>\n

    There\u2019s yet another effortless method to spot duplicated data. Just hover over a cell in column B<\/em>, click on the arrow, and select to sort the entire column either A-Z or Z-A alphabetically.<\/p>\n

    Once sorted, any duplicated data, if present, will be grouped together. However, without highlighting<\/a>, this still requires a bit of visual scanning to identify the duplicates.<\/p>\n

    \"Sorting<\/figure>\n

    Detect and Delete Duplicate Data<\/h2>\n

    If your primary goal is simply to detect and delete all duplicate data, without the need for highlighting, follow these steps.<\/p>\n

    First, select or highlight Column B<\/em>. Then, navigate through the menu: go to Data<\/strong> > Data cleanup<\/strong> > Remove duplicates<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    \"Remove<\/figure>\n

    After that, click on \"Remove duplicates<\/strong>\".<\/p>\n

    \"Remove<\/figure>\n

    This action will delete all duplicated data in the selected column.<\/p>\n

    \"Duplicated<\/figure>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Are you searching for a method to easily identify duplicate content in your Google Sheets, particularly in large datasets? Fortunately, there\u2019s a straightforward technique. By adjusting a few simple settings, you can automatically highlight duplicate content\/data in your chosen color. Then, decide whether to keep or delete these duplicates. It\u2019s quite simple. Here\u2019s the step-by-step…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3398],"tags":[4554],"topic":[],"class_list":["entry-content","is-maxi"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Highlight Duplicated Cells in Google Sheets - Hongkiat<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Are you searching for a method to easily identify duplicate content in your Google Sheets, particularly in large datasets? Fortunately, there's a\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/google-sheets-highlight-duplicates\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Highlight Duplicated Cells in Google Sheets\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Are you searching for a method to easily identify duplicate content in your Google Sheets, particularly in large datasets? Fortunately, there's a\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/google-sheets-highlight-duplicates\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hongkiat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hongkiatcom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-01-25T10:00:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/assets.hongkiat.com\/uploads\/google-sheets-highlight-duplicates\/col-b-with-names.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hongkiat Lim\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@hongkiat\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@hongkiat\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Hongkiat Lim\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/google-sheets-highlight-duplicates\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/google-sheets-highlight-duplicates\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Hongkiat Lim\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e3613a3bf757e4f67770f0b7a339edd0\"},\"headline\":\"How to Highlight Duplicated Cells in Google Sheets\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-25T10:00:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/google-sheets-highlight-duplicates\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":387,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/google-sheets-highlight-duplicates\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/assets.hongkiat.com\\\/uploads\\\/google-sheets-highlight-duplicates\\\/col-b-with-names.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Google Sheets\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Internet\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/google-sheets-highlight-duplicates\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/google-sheets-highlight-duplicates\\\/\",\"name\":\"How to Highlight Duplicated Cells in Google Sheets - Hongkiat\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/google-sheets-highlight-duplicates\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/google-sheets-highlight-duplicates\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/assets.hongkiat.com\\\/uploads\\\/google-sheets-highlight-duplicates\\\/col-b-with-names.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-25T10:00:56+00:00\",\"description\":\"Are you searching for a method to easily identify duplicate content in your Google Sheets, particularly in large datasets? 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