There are two ways to remove duplicates in Excel while keeping the first occurrence:
Method 1: Use the Remove Duplicates Button
Method 2: Use the UNIQUE() Function
The following examples shows how to use each method in practice with the following dataset in Excel:
Example 1: Use the Remove Duplicates Button
One way to remove duplicate rows in Excel while keeping the first occurrence is by using the Remove Duplicates button in the Data tab.
First, highlight the cells in the range A1:B10.
Then, click the Data tab along the top ribbon and then click the Remove Duplicates button in the Data Tools group:
In the new window that appears, check the box next to each column name:
Once you press OK, the duplicate rows will automatically be removed:
We can see that Excel removed 3 duplicate rows and 6 unique rows were left.
Example 2: Use the UNIQUE() Function
Another way to remove duplicate rows in Excel while keeping the first occurrence is by using the UNIQUE() function.
In this particular example, we can type the following formula into cell D1:
=UNIQUE(A1:B10, FALSE, FALSE)
Once we press Enter, a list of unique rows from the range A1:B10 will automatically be shown:
Notice that each of the duplicate rows have been removed while the unique rows remain.
This approach is particularly useful if you want to keep your original dataset while also creating a copy with only unique rows.
Additional Resources
The following tutorials explain how to perform other common tasks in Excel:
Excel: How to Count Duplicates
Excel: How to Find Duplicates Using VLOOKUP
Excel: How to Remove Duplicate Rows Based on Two Columns
