How to highlight duplicate values except first instance in Excel?
In Excel, you can quickly highlight all duplicate values by using the Conditional Formatting command, but how could you highlight all duplicate values except the first instance in a worksheet? This article, I will talk about some useful tricks for you to solve this job.
Highlight duplicate values except first instance with Conditional Formatting
Highlight duplicate values except first instance with Kutools for Excel
Highlight duplicate values except first instance with Conditional Formatting
You can apply a simple formula in the Conditional Formatting to highlight all duplicates except the first record. Please do as follows:
1. Select the data column that you want to highlight the duplicates except first.
2. Click Home > Conditional Formatting > New Rule, see screenshot:
3. In the New Formatting Rule dialog box, select Use a formula to determine which cells to format option under the Select a Rule Type list box, then enter this formula =COUNTIF($A$2:$A2, A2)>1 (A2 is the first cell of th list you want to apply the Conditional Formatting, you can change it to your need) into the Format values where this formula is true text box, see screenshot:
4. Then click Format button to go to the Format Cells dialog box, under the Fill tab, specify one color you like to format the duplicates, see screenshot:
5. Then click OK > OK to close the dialogs, and all the duplicate values in the selected column have been highlighted excepting the first record, see screenshot:
Highlight duplicate values except first instance with Kutools for Excel
If you have Kutools for Excel, with its Select Duplicate & Unique Cells utility, you can select or highlight the duplicate or unique values as you like.
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After installing Kutools for Excel, please do as follows:
1. Select the data column that you want to highlight the duplicates except first.
2. Then click Kutools > Select > Select Duplicate & Unique Cells, see screenshot:
3. In the Select Duplicate & Unique Cells dialog box, select Duplicates (Except 1st one), and then specify a background or font color you want to format the duplicates under the Processing of results, see screenshot:
4. Then click Ok button, and a prompt box will pop out to remind you how many duplicate cells excluding first one have been selected, and all the duplicate values but first instance are highlighted as well, see screenshot:
Tips: if you neither check Fill background nor Fill font color options, it will only select the matching results without any color.
Click to know more about this Select Duplicate & Unique Cells utility…
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Demo: Highlight duplicate values except first instance with Kutools for Excel
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