3 ways to remove duplicates in Excel

Duplicate rows creep into almost every dataset. Here are three ways to remove them, from quickest to most repeatable.

1. The Remove Duplicates button

Select your data, go to Data → Remove Duplicates, choose which columns to check, and click OK. Fast and permanent — it deletes the extra rows in place.

Use it when: you want a quick, one-off cleanup and don’t need to keep the original.

2. The UNIQUE function

On modern Excel, UNIQUE returns a de-duplicated list that updates automatically as the source changes:

=UNIQUE(A2:A100)

Use it when: you want a live list that stays in sync with the source data.

3. Power Query

Load the data into Power Query (Data → From Table/Range), right-click the column header, and choose Remove Duplicates. Then load it back to a sheet.

Use it when: this is a recurring task. Power Query records the steps, so next time you just refresh.

Which should you pick?

For a one-time fix, the button. For a formula that stays current, UNIQUE. For a report you rebuild every week, Power Query — set it up once and refresh.