Excel Macro: Delete Duplicate Entries in a Range

The following example shows how to take a range of data in column A and delete duplicate entries.

Delete Duplicate Entries in a Range

Sub DeleteDuplicates()

    Dim LastColumn As Integer
    Dim LastRow As Integer
    
    LastColumn = ActiveSheet.UsedRange.Columns.Count + 1
    LastRow = Cells(Rows.Count, 1).End(xlUp).Row
    
    ' Turn off screen updating to increase performance
    Application.ScreenUpdating = False
    
    
    With Range("A1:A" & LastRow)
        ' Use AdvanceFilter to filter unique values
        .AdvancedFilter Action:=xlFilterInPlace, Unique:=True
        
        ' Use a helper column to mark unique columns
        .SpecialCells(xlCellTypeVisible).Offset(0, LastColumn - 1).Value = 1
        On Error Resume Next
        ActiveSheet.ShowAllData
        
        ' Delete the blank rows
        Columns(LastColumn).SpecialCells(xlCellTypeBlanks).EntireRow.Delete
        Err.Clear
    End With
    
    ' clear the helper column
    Columns(LastColumn).Clear
    Application.ScreenUpdating = True

End Sub

How This Macro Works

This example uses the AdvancedFilter method of the Range object with the Unique parameter equal to True to get the unique list of data. The Action parameter equals xlFilterInPlace, specifying that the data is filtered in place. If you want to retain your original data, set the Action parameter equal to xlFilterCopy and specify the location where you want the filtered data copied in the CopyToRange parameter. Once the unique values are filtered, this example uses the SpecialCells method of the Range object to find any remaining blank rows and deletes them.

Remove Duplicates in Excel 2013 or later

If you use Excel 2013 or later, you can use RemoveDuplicates method of Range object to remove duplicates:

ActiveSheet.Range("A:A").RemoveDuplicates Columns:=1, Header:=xlYes

How to Use This Macro