Forum Discussion
Eliminate multiple older dates from a spreadsheet
You will need the most recent release of Excel in order for this particular solution to work, but it's worth getting if you don't have it.
I've used two of the new Dynamic Array functions in this solution, UNIQUE and FILTER. Down below I'll put a link to a YouTube video that explains the functions.
In cell L2 I entered this formula: =SORT(UNIQUE(A2:A21))
That formula, in that single cell, produced the list of unique IDs, sorted in order.
Then in Cell M2, I entered this formula (and then copied it down adjacent to the unique ID list:
=MAX(FILTER($B$2:$B$21,$A$2:$A$21=L2))
Which, first, by means of the FILTER function, gets all of the dates associated with whatever ID is adjacent (L2 in the first row)
and then, by means of MAX function, picks only the greatest date.
The result is exactly like your sample showed it should be. See the attached.
Here's that promised link to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9I9DtFOVPIg
Thank you SO MUCH for this help. I wish I knew these more sophisticated functions, and I'm grateful there are folks as yourself willing to lend a hand. Your guidance was crystal clear, and I haven't even looked at the video yet. I would just add for anyone else using this technique, at the end, you may need to copy and paste-as-values Columns L & M, and choose a date format for Column M.
My actual spreadsheet had over 3,000 rows, so, again, my great appreciation! Tracy
