# Yet, another Excel question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 2, 2009, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-excel-question/519733 "2009-12-02T18:49:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![5\_time\_champ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/278dde/32.png) [@5\_time\_champ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5_time_champ)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-excel-question/519733/1 "2009-12-02T18:49:22Z")
I have the output of an Address Book, trying to find which records may have been added or modified in the last month or so. I have two Excel spreadsheets containing: First Name, Last Name, Email Address I have sorted them and then merged them so I have Andrew Adams [andrewadams@adam.com](mailto:andrewadams@adam.com) Andrew Adams [andrewadams@adam.com](mailto:andrewadams@adam.com) Bart Adams [bartadams@smith.com](mailto:bartadams@smith.com) Bart Adams [bartadams@smith.com](mailto:bartadams@smith.com) John Atwood [jatwood@msn.com](mailto:jatwood@msn.com) Becky Brown [bbrown@brown.com](mailto:bbrown@brown.com) Becky Brown [bbrown@brown.com](mailto:bbrown@brown.com) Is there anyway to “extract” that unique record? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-excel-question/519733/2 "2009-12-02T18:58:38Z")
If the data is in column A, then in the second cell of another column put: =IF(OR(A1=A2,A2=A3),"",“This is new”) Copy that to the other cells in that column that have a cell in column A. Look for the cell with “This is new” in it. ---
**Author:** ![Ruminator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Ruminator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruminator)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-excel-question/519733/3 "2009-12-02T19:04:09Z")
> [@5\_time\_champ](#): > > Is there anyway to “extract” that unique record? Excel has a feature to filter “unique” records: [Your request has been blocked. This could be due to several reasons.](http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel/HA010346261033.aspx) ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-excel-question/519733/4 "2009-12-02T19:27:30Z")
What if you have: FiveTime Champ Five @ Time.Champ FiveTime Champ Five @ [TimeChamp.com](http://TimeChamp.com) FiveTime Champ FiveTimeChamp @ [gmail.com](http://gmail.com) FiveTime Champ 5 @ [timechamp.com](http://timechamp.com) What do you want extracted there? Personally, I’d do a pivotchart. ---
**Author:** ![5\_time\_champ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/278dde/32.png) [@5\_time\_champ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5_time_champ)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-excel-question/519733/5 "2009-12-02T20:50:36Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > If the data is in column A, then in the second cell of another column put: > > =IF(OR(A1=A2,A2=A3),“”,“This is new”) > > Copy that to the other cells in that column that have a cell in column A. > > Look for the cell with “This is new” in it. That did it, thanks. As much as a I rag on Micro$oft, Excel is a very useful & powerful application.