ClickUp Guide: Find Duplicates in Excel

Use ClickUp to document and standardize a reliable workflow for finding duplicate data in Excel so your team can clean spreadsheets quickly and accurately.

Below, you will learn multiple ways to locate, highlight, and remove duplicate entries in Microsoft Excel, plus how to turn those steps into repeatable processes your team can reference anytime.

Why Document Excel Duplicate Checks in ClickUp

Spreadsheets become unreliable when duplicate values slip into lists of customers, invoices, or product SKUs. Documenting your data-cleaning workflow in ClickUp helps every teammate follow the same steps and avoid mistakes.

When you keep your Excel procedures inside ClickUp tasks, you can:

• Standardize how your team searches for duplicates
• Store screenshots and notes for tricky edge cases
• Assign responsibilities and due dates to data owners
• Track completed cleanups and maintain an audit trail

With that structure in place, let’s walk through the main ways you can find duplicates in Excel.

Method 1: Use Conditional Formatting to Highlight Duplicates

Conditional Formatting is one of the fastest ways to visually scan a sheet for repeated values.

Step-by-step: Highlight duplicates in Excel

1. Select the range you want to check for duplicates. This can be a single column, multiple columns, or the entire sheet.

2. Go to the Home tab on the Excel ribbon.

3. Click Conditional Formatting in the Styles group.

4. Choose Highlight Cells Rules > Duplicate Values…

5. In the dialog box, make sure Duplicate is selected in the first drop-down.

6. Select a formatting option, such as Light Red Fill with Dark Red Text, or create a custom format.

7. Click OK.

Every duplicate value in the selected range now appears with the chosen format so you can quickly scan and decide what to remove or correct.

Best practices to capture in your ClickUp task

• Specify exactly which columns should be checked (for example, email, customer ID, SKU).
• Define how to handle duplicates once they are highlighted (delete, merge, or correct values).
• Attach example screenshots or a short screen recording for new team members.

Method 2: Remove Duplicate Rows with Excel’s Built-In Tool

When you want to delete duplicate rows instead of just seeing them, use Excel’s Remove Duplicates feature.

Step-by-step: Remove duplicates in Excel

1. Select the range of cells or the entire table that you want to clean.

2. Go to the Data tab on the ribbon.

3. Click Remove Duplicates in the Data Tools group.

4. In the dialog box, confirm the range and check the box My data has headers if your columns include labels.

5. Select the columns that should be used to identify a duplicate row. For example, you might select Email only, or a combination like First Name, Last Name, and Email.

6. Click OK.

7. Excel displays a summary showing how many duplicate values were found and removed and how many unique values remain.

What to document in ClickUp for this method

• Which columns must always be part of the duplicate check.
• How often each dataset should be cleaned (daily, weekly, monthly).
• Who must review the duplicate removal summary and sign off.

By turning these details into a checklist in a ClickUp task, your team can run the same high-quality cleanup each time.

Method 3: Use Excel Formulas to Flag Duplicates

For more control, formulas let you flag duplicates in a helper column before you modify any data.

COUNTIF formula to find duplicates

The most common approach is to use the COUNTIF function.

1. Add a new column next to the data you want to check, such as Duplicate Check.

2. In the first cell of the helper column, enter a formula similar to:
   =IF(COUNTIF($A$2:$A$100, A2)>1, "Duplicate", "Unique")

3. Copy the formula down the entire column.

4. Filter the helper column to show only Duplicate values.

5. Review the filtered rows and delete or correct them as needed.

Exact duplicate checks across multiple columns

You can also combine several columns in a single formula to only flag rows where all selected fields match.

For example, in a helper column you might use:

=IF(COUNTIFS($A$2:$A$100,A2,$B$2:$B$100,B2)>1,"Duplicate","Unique")

This counts rows where both Column A and Column B match the current row.

How to preserve these formulas in ClickUp

Inside ClickUp, create a recurring task that stores your preferred formulas for each dataset. Include:

• The exact ranges and columns referenced in formulas.
• Notes about what “duplicate” means for that specific list.
• Links to the master workbook or shared drive location.

Method 4: Advanced Techniques Referenced in ClickUp Docs

For complex spreadsheets, you may want to combine several approaches. Use ClickUp Docs to keep longer, reference-style instructions for your data team.

Pivot tables to summarize repeated values

Pivot tables can quickly show you which values appear more than once without changing the source data.

1. Select your data range.

2. Go to the Insert tab and choose PivotTable.

3. Place the field you want to analyze in the Rows area.

4. Place the same field (or another identifier) in the Values area and change the calculation to Count.

5. Filter or sort the pivot table to show only items with a count greater than one.

Document in your ClickUp Doc which fields to use and how to interpret the counts so the entire team can follow the same interpretation.

Using filters and sorting to review duplicates

Even without formulas or tools, simple sorting and filtering can help surface duplicate entries:

• Sort by the column you suspect has duplicates (for example, email or ID).
• Scan adjacent rows for repeated values.
• Use filters to show only specific ranges or categories before you check.

While this approach is more manual, it can be helpful for small datasets or spot checks, and the procedure can still be written up as a repeatable checklist inside ClickUp.

Turn Excel Cleanup into a ClickUp Workflow

Once you know how to find duplicates in Excel, the next step is turning these steps into a dependable workflow so your team never has to guess what to do.

Build a reusable ClickUp template

Create a task template that includes:

• A checklist for each method: Conditional Formatting, Remove Duplicates, and formulas.
• Fields to record which workbook and sheet were cleaned.
• Spaces to paste key formulas and screenshot links.
• Subtasks for review and approval.

You can then apply this template every time you clean a new dataset.

Schedule recurring tasks in ClickUp

Set recurring tasks on the schedule that fits your data freshness needs. For example:

• Weekly cleanup for marketing lead lists.
• Monthly cleanup for financial exports.
• Quarterly cleanup for product or inventory spreadsheets.

This keeps spreadsheet hygiene consistent and auditable.

Learn More and Keep Improving Your Process

If you want to go deeper into Excel-specific techniques, read the original tutorial on how to find duplicates in Excel on the ClickUp blog: how to find duplicates in Excel. Use that article as a reference and capture your customized version of the process inside ClickUp so it matches your data, tools, and team.

To further optimize and document your analytics and reporting workflows, you can also explore specialist guidance from consultants such as Consultevo, then bring their recommended procedures into your ClickUp workspace.

By pairing Excel’s built-in tools with clearly documented ClickUp workflows, your organization keeps data clean, reduces errors, and gives every teammate a trusted, step-by-step playbook for handling duplicate entries.

Need Help With ClickUp?

If you want expert help building, automating, or scaling your ClickUp workspace, work with ConsultEvo — trusted ClickUp Solution Partners.

Get Help

“`