how do I delete duplicates in numbers

Hi Christy1776,

There are ways to do this with formulas and extra columns and such, but what I do is just make a simple menu pick:

Select the range of cells containing possible duplicates, make the menu pick, then paste the distinct (deduplicated) values wherever you want in a table by single-clicking a cell and typing command-v to paste.

You can add this to your Services menu by downloading aCopy Distinct Automator Service (Dropbox download) and double-clicking the workflow document to install. That's it. The functionality is then available whenever you need it via a simple menu pick. No formulas, no fuss.

SG

Hi Christy,

See also the solutions offered in this thread.

Regards,

Barry

And if you just want to flag (mark) the duplicates in a selected range without actually removing them, you can try this Flag Duplicates Automator Service (Dropbox download). The usage is the same. First select the range of cells you want to check for duplicates, then make the menu pick from the Services menu.

Once installed, you can find the workflow package in your Library > Services folder (go there in Finder by holding down the option key and choosing Go from the menu). You can open these in Automator to tinker with the script: have it turn the background of the cell red rather than the text color, etc., etc.

SG

Hey SGIII! This script looks like it could be very useful! Thanks for sharing.

I tried using it OSX 10.9.3 and Numbers 3.2 and when I select a column and go to Numbers>Services>Copy Distinct I get

"Select some non-blank cells and try again."

Am I doing something wrong?

Thanks in advance!

steve

Try selecting the cells in the column (some of which must be non-blank) and then with the cells still selected, go to Numbers > Services > Copy Distinct.

After the notification appears, click a destination cell once and paste.

SG

rgcardos wrote:

Hi SG,

Can you share also the copy transpose workflow?

The workflow is now deprecated, as in Numbers 3 and 4 you can simply click in a table and in your menu choose Table > Transpose Rows and Columns.

SG

Thank you so much for this service. This definitely saved me tons of time and lots of headaches. 🙂

Thanks for the nice feedback!

SG

For those of us less technical, this was a great, simple explanation. Works like a charm too. This was a huge help, thank you!!

Hi SG,

Can you share also the copy transpose workflow?