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Remove duplicate rows from an Excel file

Upload the XLSX file, keep remove duplicates enabled, optionally turn on trim spaces, then convert. You download a new workbook where each exact duplicate row appears only once.

XLSX Encrypted, deleted after conversion

XLS, XLSX, XLSM, XLSB, ODS, CSV, TSV, Numbers, JSON, XML

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Encrypted, auto-deleted

Demo converts up to 100 rows, once.

Sheet

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JSON shape

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Table name

Wrap in a transaction

Dates

Row element

Orientation

Workbook password (if protected)

Trim spaces in every cell Remove duplicate rows Drop empty columns Stack all sheets into one table

Duplicate rows creep in from merged exports, repeated form submissions and copy and paste. In a mailing list they mean double emails, in a ledger they mean double counted revenue. Excel has a Remove Duplicates button, but it needs the file open, a correct column selection every time, and it is easy to run on the wrong range.

Upload the workbook and get a clean copy back. Only exact duplicate rows are removed and the first occurrence is kept. For the same cleanup on data you also want to tidy, combine it with Remove empty columns in Excel. Need a text file instead? Export to CSV.

How to convert Remove duplicates in Excel in three steps

1Upload the .xlsx file with the duplicate rows.
2Keep remove duplicates on and add trim spaces if values differ only by spacing.
3Convert and download the cleaned workbook.

What counts as a duplicate row and what stays

A row is a duplicate only when every cell matches another row exactly. Two customers with the same email but different phone numbers are not duplicates under this rule, which is deliberate: removing them would throw away information. If you want to deduplicate on a single column such as email, remove the other columns first or keep them in a separate sheet.

Invisible differences are the usual reason a duplicate survives. A trailing space, a non breaking space pasted from a web page, or a number stored as text on one row and as a number on another all make cells unequal. Trim spaces handles the first two. For mixed types, convert the column to one type in Excel before uploading.

The cleaned workbook keeps values, not formulas. When cleanup runs, every formula is replaced by its calculated result, because rows are removed and references to them would otherwise point at the wrong cells. Keep your original file if you still need the formulas. To clean a Google Sheet, export it first with Google Sheets to Excel, which offers the same option.

Options for Remove duplicates in Excel

Remove duplicates: Keeps the first occurrence of each row and drops later rows that match it in every column.
Trim spaces: Strips leading and trailing spaces first, so John Smith and John Smith with a trailing space count as the same.
Header row: Protects the header from being compared with the data and sets where the data starts.
All sheets: Cleans every worksheet in the workbook, each on its own.

Run it automatically

Lists that are rebuilt every week from several sources keep picking up the same duplicates. A Business plan pipeline can deduplicate each new file automatically as it arrives from email, S3, Google Drive or Dropbox. See automation or set dedupe in a call to the API.

Remove duplicates in Excel questions

How do I remove duplicate rows from an Excel file online?

Upload the workbook with remove duplicates enabled and download the cleaned file. The first occurrence of each row is kept.

Does it remove rows that are duplicates in only one column?

No. Only rows that match in every column are removed, so no information is lost by accident.

Why does a duplicate row stay after cleaning?

Usually a hidden space or a number stored as text makes one cell different. Turn on trim spaces and check the column types.

Are formulas kept when removing duplicates?

No, formulas are converted to their values during cleanup. Keep a copy of the original if you need them.

Can I test duplicate removal before buying?

Yes, the one-time demo processes up to 100 rows, once per account and IP. Full files need a plan, from 24 USD per month billed yearly.

Related converters

Remove empty columns in Excel Merge Excel sheets XLSX to CSV CSV to XLSX Google Sheets to Excel

Convert full files and batches

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