How can you remove duplicate values from a column in Excel?

The "Remove Duplicates" function is the designated tool in Microsoft Excel for permanently deleting rows that contain duplicate values. Located on the 'Data' tab within the 'Data Tools' group, this feature allows the user to select one or more columns to check for duplicate information. When executed, Excel removes the entire row for all duplicate entries found after the first instance, thus cleaning the dataset.

B. The “Fill Handle” function is used to copy cell contents or to continue a data series into adjacent cells; it does not remove data.

C. The “Find and Replace” function is used to locate specific values and substitute them with others, not to identify and remove duplicate rows.

D. The “Filter” function temporarily hides rows that do not meet specified criteria but does not permanently delete the duplicate data from the worksheet.

1. Microsoft Corporation. (n.d.). Find and remove duplicates. Microsoft Support. Retrieved from https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/find-and-remove-duplicates-00e35321-5e25-404d-9199-6e7353882713. (This official documentation directly describes the "Remove Duplicates" command under the "Data Tools" group on the "Data" tab.)

2. University of California

Berkeley Library. (n.d.). Excel: Remove Duplicates. Data-services. Retrieved from https://data-services.hosting.berkeley.edu/training/excel-remove-duplicates. (This university guide explicitly details the step-by-step process for using the "Remove Duplicates" feature to clean data.)

3. MIT Libraries. (n.d.). Excel 2016: Data Cleaning and Preparation. LibGuides at MIT Libraries. Retrieved from https://libguides.mit.edu/c.php?g=559451&p=3848248. (Under the "Removing Duplicates" section

this resource confirms that the "Remove Duplicates" tool on the Data tab is the standard method for this task.)