Highlight unique values and unique distinct values in a cell range
The following formula highlights cells that contain unique distinct values, in other words, all duplicate values except the first instance are not highlighted.
Conditional formatting formula:
How to apply conditional formatting
- Select your range B2:E5.
- Go to "Home" tab on the ribbon.
- Click "Conditional formatting" button.
- Click "New Rule.."
- Click "Use a formula to determine what cells to format"
- Copy the conditional formatting formula above and paste to "Format values where this formula is true:"
- Click Format button
- Select a formatting.
- Click OK button.
- Click OK button.
Explaining CF formula in cell B2
There are two parts in this formula, one part determines if a value is a duplicate in the first column. The second part of the formula determines if a value is a duplicate in the remaining columns.
The reason the formula looks like this is because of the order of how Excel calculates cells.
IF(logical_expression, first_part, second_part)
Step 1 - Check if first column is being evaluated
The COLUMNS function counts columns in a cell reference. $A$1:A1 is an expanding cell reference, it grows because A1 is a relative cell reference that changes between cells.
COLUMNS($A$1:A1)=1
becomes
1=1 and returns TRUE.
Step 2 - Count cells based on a condition
The IF function changes the calculation based on the logical expression in the first argument. The second argument is calculated if the logical expression returns TRUE, the third argument is calculated if the logical expression returns FALSE.
The COUNTIF function makes sure that duplicates are not highlighted, only the first instance of each value. However this works only in the first column, the remaining columns need a different formula in order to do correct calculations.
IF(COLUMNS($A$1:A1)=1,COUNTIF($B$2:B2,B2),COUNTIF($B$2:B2,B2)+COUNTIF(OFFSET($B$2:$E$5,,,4,COLUMNS($A$1:A1)-1),B2))=1
becomes
IF(TRUE,COUNTIF($B$2:B2,B2),...)=1
becomes
IF(TRUE,COUNTIF(0,0),...)=1
becomes
1=1
and returns TRUE. Cell B2 is highlighted.
Step 3 - Calculations in remaining columns
If we move to cell C2 the IF function behaves differently.
IF(COLUMNS($A$1:A1)=1, COUNTIF($B$2:C2, C2), COUNTIF($B$2:C2, C2)+COUNTIF(OFFSET($B$2:$E$5, , , 4, COLUMNS($A$1:B1)-1), C2))=1
becomes
IF(COLUMNS($A$1:B1)=1, COUNTIF($B$2:C2, C2),COUNTIF($B$2:C2, C2)+COUNTIF(OFFSET($B$2:$E$5, , , 4, COLUMNS($A$1:B1)-1), C2))=1
becomes
IF(2=1, COUNTIF($B$2:C2, C2), COUNTIF($B$2:C2, C2)+COUNTIF(OFFSET($B$2:$E$5, , , 4, COLUMNS($A$1:B1)-1), C2))=1
becomes
IF(FALSE, COUNTIF($B$2:C2, C2), COUNTIF($B$2:C2, C2)+COUNTIF(OFFSET($B$2:$E$5, , , 4, COLUMNS($A$1:B1)-1), C2))=1
becomes
IF(FALSE, COUNTIF($B$2:C2, C2), COUNTIF({0,6}, 6)+COUNTIF(OFFSET($B$2:$E$5, , , 4, COLUMNS($A$1:B1)-1), C2))=1
The OFFSET function returns an expanding cell reference that grows as the CF moves from column to column.
IF(FALSE, COUNTIF($B$2:C2, C2), 1+COUNTIF(OFFSET($B$2:$E$5, , , 4, 1), C2))=1
becomes
IF(FALSE, COUNTIF($B$2:C2, C2), 1+COUNTIF($B$2:$B$5, C2))=1
becomes
IF(FALSE, COUNTIF($B$2:C2, C2), 1+COUNTIF({0;11;14;16},6))=1
becomes
IF(FALSE, COUNTIF($B$2:C2, C2), 1+0)=1
becomes
1=1 and returns TRUE. Cell C2 is highlighted.
Download Excel file
highlight unique distinct values in a range.xlsx
Weekly Blog EMAIL
Welcome! I am Oscar and here to help you out.Feel free to comment and ask Excel questions.
Make sure you subscribe to my newsletter so you don't miss new blog articles.
Related articles
How to highlight unique distinct values
The image above shows conditional formatting highlighting unique distinct values, duplicates are not highlighted. Conditional Formatting Formula: =COUNTIF($B$3:B3, B3)=1 The […]
Highlight unique values in a filtered Excel table
This article demonstrates a conditional formatting formula that allows you to highlight unique values based on a set of filtered […]
Highlight unique distinct records
The image above demonstrates a Conditional Formatting formula that highlights unique distinct records. This means that the first instance of […]
Highlight overlapping date ranges using conditional formatting
The image above demonstrates a conditional formatting formula that colors a record if there is at least one record that […]
Count Conditionally Formatted cells
This article explains how to count cells highlighted with Conditional Formatting (CF). The image above shows data in cell range […]
Highlight records based on overlapping date ranges and a condition
adam asks: Hi, I have a situation where I want to count if this value is duplicate and if it […]
Highlight dates in a date range
Question: How do I highlight dates that meet criteria using conditional formatting? Table of contents Highlight values in a column […]
This post demonstrates how to highlight records with the closest value to a criterion, you can also choose to highlight […]
One Response to “Highlight unique values and unique distinct values in a cell range”
Leave a Reply
How to comment
How to add a formula to your comment
<code>Insert your formula here.</code>
Convert less than and larger than signs
Use html character entities instead of less than and larger than signs.
< becomes < and > becomes >
How to add VBA code to your comment
[vb 1="vbnet" language=","]
Put your VBA code here.
[/vb]
How to add a picture to your comment:
Upload picture to postimage.org or imgur
Paste image link to your comment.
When you modify to use anything other than the 'A' column the first instance of duplicate does not highlight. Using the example simply move 'tbl' one column to the right to see.
Regards
Dave