Anyway to check for duplicate entries?

I'm wondering if its possible to check for duplicate entries in a workbook, across multiple sheets.

What I have is a list that keeps track of product in stock for clients. Every so often it happens that an entry is duplicated because the client has more than one product.

I would like to have it setup so that if a clients name is duplicated, it could merge the data into the existing row, or at least warn me of a duplicate entry.


Can it be done?

You could simply use FIND prior to making an entry.

How do you make your entries? can you supply a sample workbook?

Basically items come in with a clients name on it. I look at the name on the item, and add it to the sheet. Rinse Repeat

The workbook contains multiple sheets, each sheet is for a letter of the alphabet, A - XYZ

The sheets only track HOW MANY items each client has, not WHAT it is.

I can provide a sample, just not right at the moment.

Basically its just like this

Sheet "A"

Location | Last Name | First Name| Items| Picked Up
a2(Bin #)| Apple     | Sharon    |   2  | [Blank]
    A3   | Anderson  | Bill      |[Blank]|  1

the "picked Up" column shows if the client has picked up items, and how many have they picked up, compared to how many they have here.

They may have come in previously and picked stuff up, but now they have more stuff, so its easier to just update there existing entry instead of adding a duplicate.

The reason i asked how you enter them is so that i could give you a quick fix to alert you as to there being a duplicate so if you simply enter in to a cell is it in a master sheet or in the individual sheets?

I assume all you need first off is to identify that there is a duplicate and where it is?

Well for now, drop this into the worksheet code module for each sheet (right click the worksheet tab, view code) and it will alert you as to a duplicate of the first word that you type, it will find the duplicate as long as it's above where you have typed - it had to be like that as you haven't given me any informationas to where you enter the info, when you can supply a sample workbook i will work on a better solution!

Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Range)
Dim FndDup As String
FndDup = Cells.Find(What:=Target.Value, After:=Me.Range("A1"), LookIn:=xlFormulas, LookAt:= _
        xlPart, SearchOrder:=xlByRows, SearchDirection:=xlNext, MatchCase:=False _
        , SearchFormat:=False).Address
        If Range(FndDup) <> vbNullString Then
        MsgBox Target.Value & " duplicate found at " & FndDup & ", taking you to the duplicate"
        Me.Range(FndDup).Select
        End If
End Sub

Hello DarkSoul,

You haven't explained what to do with the duplicates. If you have an order in bin "A" and a duplicate order in bin "M", what do you want to do next? Move these to seaprate sheet, combine them in bin "A" and delete bin "M", or vice versa?