Filter unique distinct records using criteria
Author: Oscar Cronquist Article last updated on January 31, 2019
This blog post describes how to filter unique distinct records that meet a given condition in an Excel defined Table. This article shows you how to do it using an array formula: Filter unique distinct records with a condition
The difference with today's blog post is that you also can add more filters to your Excel Table, making the Excel Table a lot more useful and powerful.
Formula in cell E3:
=COUNTIFS($B$3:B3,B3,$C$3:C3,C3,$D$3:D3,D3)
Explaining formula in cell E3
The COUNTIFS function was introduced in Excel 2007 and it calculates the number of cells across multiple ranges that equals all given conditions.
The criteria_range1 and criteria1 is one pair, there must be as many pairs as there are columns in your data set.
COUNTIFS(criteria_range1, criteria1, [criteria_range2, criteria2]…)
| Pair | criteria_range | criteria | Text |
| 1 | $B$3:B3 | B3 | Is value in cell B3 found in cell range $B$3:B3? |
| 2 | $C$3:C3 | C3 | Is value in cell C3 found in cell range $C$3:C3? |
| 3 | $D$3:D3 | D3 | Is value in cell D3 found in cell range $D$3:D3? |
Note, all references in the criteria_ranges grow when the cell is copied to cells below. Example, $B$3:B3 contains an absolute part $B$3 indicated by the $ (dollar) signs and a relative part B3 that changes in cells below.
Step 1 - The first argument pair
$B$3:B3 returns 40475 and B3 returns 40475.
The value in cell B3 is found once in cell range $B$3:B3.
Step 2 - The second argument pair
$C$3:C3 returns "AA" and C3 returns "AA".
The value in cell C3 is found once in cell range $C$3:C3.
Step 3 - The third argument pair
$D$3:D3 returns 1 and D3 returns 1.
The value in cell D3 is found once in cell range $D$3:D3.
Step 4 - All arguments
The COUNTIFS function returns 1 because all argument pairs return 1 meaning this record in row 3 is a unique distinct record, however, there might be duplicate records further down the list.
COUNTIFS($B$3:B3,B3,$C$3:C3,C3,$D$3:D3,D3)
becomes
COUNTIFS(40475,40475,"AA","AA",1,1)
and returns 1.
The image above shows that row 16, 17 and 19 contain duplicate records.
What are unique distinct rows/records?
Unique distinct rows are all rows but duplicate records are merged into one distinct record, see example in the picture below.
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