Forum Discussion
AbigailJacob1981
Jan 17, 2025Copper Contributor
HELP! Consolidating data in spreadsheet without data loss
I have a dataset that I'm trying to consolidate into unique records without losing any data. Each observation has an SSID number, and there are duplicate entries in the SSID number column. I don't want to de-dupe the records using Excel's de-duplicate, because there is information across multiple rows/columns that I would like to consolidate.
Here's an example (with fake IDs to preserve confidential information):
My duplicate ID is highlighted with conditional formatting. I'd like one observation for student #1234, but that preserved both the grade in Column D, and the 'yes' in Column C that appears in the second row for student #1234.
Using Excel's native de-duplicate or consolidate data functions means I lose either the grade in column D or the yes in column C.
Any way to do this?
- Harun24HRBronze Contributor
What would be your desired output? Can you attach a sample file.
- AbigailJacob1981Copper Contributor
Sample output would look like this:
It preserves the 'yes' in column D for student #1234, and also preserves the grade in column H for student #1234's original duplicate record.
The 'General or Topical Math' is a placeholder and could be removed and re-added later, but I'd like to keep the subject-specific math courses like AP calculus and Pre-Algebra in the sample file.