Thursday, April 16, 2015

Google Sheets and Duplicate Rows of Data





If you are using Google Forms to collect data from a large audience, you may want to check the data in the form response spreadsheet to be sure each row is unique and not duplicated.

That is how I am collecting my SGO (Student Growth Objective) data from 8th grade students at the +William Davies Middle School.  I am having about 330 8th grade students fill out my Google Form, in which they only need to fill out once, and submit their response.  The responses go into a form response spreadsheet, where I can access and manipulate the data.  However, a student may enter their information twice, not realizing that they already completed the Google Form.

I really don't want to go through all the information looking for duplicate records, so I used an Add-on called 'Remove Duplicates', which I highly recommend.  It is very simple and quick to use.  Here is a quick and short overview on how to install the add-on and how to implement it.  

Follow the steps below:

Install the Add-on:

  • First, go into your Google sheet where the data is located.
  • Select 'Add-ons' option from the menu bar.
  • Select 'Get Add-ons' from the drop down list.
  • Search for 'Remove Duplicates'.
  • Click on 'FREE'.
  • Click on 'Accept' to allow the app to have access to your Google Drive.
  • Now the add-on will be listed in the Add-ons menu.

Implement the Add-on:

  • Click on the 'Add-ons' option from the menu bar.
  • Select 'Remove Duplicates' then 'Find Duplicate or Uniques'.
  • Select the sheet and the range of the data you want to search, then hit 'Select'.
  • Select 'Duplicates' or another option if suitable, then hit 'Next'.
  • Select 'My table has headers', then hit 'Next'
  • Select a fill color to mark the duplicate records, then hit 'Finish'. (I would recommend changing the color to a lighter shade.)
  • The results will display any duplicate rows which will be highlighted or a message that says no duplicates found.
I hope you find this add-on helpful.  I sure did!