Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Finding Rows with Values in Two Columns.

Finding Rows with Values in Two Columns

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated March 20, 2021)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021


Adri has a worksheet that has quite a few data records in it (well over 40,000). Two of the columns on each row are supposed to be mutually exclusive—a value can be in column F or in column G, but a value should not be in column F and column G. Adri need a quick way to find any records in which there is a value in both columns F and G so she can rectify these erroneous entries.

The key here is the phrase "on each row." Audri wants to simply look at column F and G on any given row and make sure that there aren't values (any values) in both F and G. Understanding this, there are a number of different ways you can proceed. An easy way is to add a simple formula to column H, such as this:

=COUNTA(F2:G2)

Assuming you place this formula in cell H2 (just to the right of the cells being examined), the result will be either 0, 1, or 2. If both F2 and G2 are empty, then the result is 0; if either F2 or G2 is empty, then the result is 1; and if neither F2 or G2 is empty, then the result is 2. You can easily sort or filter by the results in column H to find those rows that don't have the proper count.

If you prefer a textual indicator in column H, you can use a formula such as this:

=IF(ISBLANK(F2)+ISBLANK(G2)<>1,"Error","OK")

This formula displays "Error" if there is either nothing in F and G or something in both F and G. It only displays "OK" if there is something in either F or G. With the formula in place, you can easily sort or filter to find the errant rows.

Speaking of filters, you can easily apply a filter that will show you only those rows that have something in both columns F and G. Click the Filter tool (on the Data tab of the ribbon) and then click the down-arrow at the top of column F. In the resulting drop-down list, clear the Blanks option; all other check boxes should remain selected. The number of rows displayed on the screen is reduced according to this specification. When you apply the same criteria to column G, what you are left with is only those rows with non-blank values in both F and G. (If you also want to check those which have nothing in both F and G, you can clear all the check boxes except the Blanks option for both column F and G.)

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (10629) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Finding Rows with Values in Two Columns.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Capturing a Screen

Windows provides a way of "capturing" the image on the screen into the clipboard. You can then paste the image from the ...

Discover More

Combining Columns

Need to concatenate the contents in a number of columns so that it appears in a single column? Excel has no intrinsic way ...

Discover More

Rounding to the Nearest Half Dollar

When working with financial data, it's easy to round values to the nearest dollar. What if you want them rounded to the ...

Discover More

Excel Smarts for Beginners! Featuring the friendly and trusted For Dummies style, this popular guide shows beginners how to get up and running with Excel while also helping more experienced users get comfortable with the newest features. Check out Excel 2019 For Dummies today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Removing Duplicates Based on a Partial Match

Some types of data may have certain fields that contain partially identical information. In such cases you may want to ...

Discover More

Limits on Filtering

Filtering your data is a very power capability in Excel. What, however, are the limits on how many rows you can filter? ...

Discover More

Removing Filters and Unhiding Rows and Columns on Multiple Worksheets

Need to remove filters and display all rows and columns in all your worksheets? It is not easy to do manually, but with a ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 9 + 7?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.