Filtering Columns for Unique Values

It is not unusual to acquire or develop data tables that have duplicate values in a column. If you want to see only the unique values, without the duplicates, you want to filter your data table. Excel makes this rather easy for most scenarios. For instance, let's say you have a data table in which you have part numbers in column A. If you want to filter the list so you see only unique part numbers, you can follow these steps:

1. Make sure there are column headings at the top of your list of part numbers.
2. Select one of the cells in the list of part numbers.
3. Display the Data tab of the ribbon.
4. Click the Advanced Filter tool (Excel 2007) or the Advanced tool (later versions of Excel) in the Sort & Filter group. Excel displays the Advanced Filter dialog box. (See Figure 1.)



Figure 1. The Advanced Filter dialog box.

5. I always like to choose the Copy to Another Location option.
6. In the Copy To field, specify the cell where you want the list of unique, filtered values to be copied.
7. Make sure the Unique Records Only check box is selected.
8. Click on OK.

Understand that if your original data consists of multiple columns, there may not be much difference between the original data and the filtered data. This is because in determining what is "unique," Excel takes into account each column. For instance, if part number "abc123" appears two times in column A, but column B for each of those part numbers includes differing info, then the records (rows) are considered unique, even though the part number is the same.

If you are using Excel 2021, 2024, or Excel in Microsoft 365, you can also use the UNIQUE function to grab a unique set of values from the part numbers list. If, for instance, your data is in the range A1:C322, then you could use the following formula:

=UNIQUE(A1:C322)

As mentioned above, rows are considered unique if, when each column is combined together, they are different from other rows. You can find out more about the UNIQUE function by checking out this ExcelTip:

https://tips.net/T12835

One of the great things about using the UNIQUE function is that it is dynamic, meaning that if you update your original list of part numbers, then what is returned by UNIQUE is updated, as well. This doesn't happen if you use the Advanced Filter dialog box to copy the results of a filter to a different location.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (8732) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Excel in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Filtering Columns for Unique Values.