How to Fuzzy Match Duplicates in Excel
Excel's Remove Duplicates only catches exact matches — so "Acme", "ACME" and "Acme Inc." slip through as three different customers. Here's how to match near-duplicates and roll them into one.
Last updated: August 2026
| Raw value | Cleaned | |
|---|---|---|
| Acme | → | Acme Inc. |
| ACME, Inc. | → | Acme Inc. |
| acme inc | → | Acme Inc. |
| Acmee Inc | → | Acme Inc. |
Method 1 — Microsoft's Fuzzy Lookup add-in (free)
- Download the free Fuzzy Lookup Add-In for Excel from Microsoft and install it (Windows desktop Excel only).
- Put each list in its own Table — select the range and press Ctrl+T.
- On the new Fuzzy Lookup ribbon tab, choose the Left and Right tables and the columns to compare.
- Set the Similarity Threshold slider (0.80 is a good start) and click Go. You get matched rows plus a
FuzzyLookup.Similarityscore you can sort on.
Great for reconciling two lists. It's Windows-only, needs an install, and doesn't clean a single column in place.
Method 2 — Power Query fuzzy merge
- Select your table → Data → From Table/Range to load it into Power Query.
- Home → Merge Queries, pick the matching column on both sides.
- Tick Use fuzzy matching to perform the merge, then open Fuzzy matching options to set the similarity threshold and an optional transform table.
- Close & Load. Power Query can also Group By with fuzzy grouping to collapse near-duplicates.
Powerful, but it's a multi-step query and the results land on a new sheet rather than fixing your original column.
Method 3 — the formula workaround
There's no native fuzzy function, but you can approximate it: lowercase and strip punctuation with nested SUBSTITUTE/LOWER/TRIM so "ACME, Inc." and "acme inc" collapse to the same helper key, then dedupe on that key. It handles case and spacing — but not real typos like "Acmee".
The 1-click way — Tellsheet
Cluster Values does fuzzy matching on a single column in place. Select the column, choose Fuzzy strength, and it groups near-identical spellings — case, spacing, punctuation, and typos within a similarity threshold — then rewrites every one to the most common spelling. You see the exact before/after map first, and it's revertable. It runs entirely on your computer, so it works on the sensitive vendor and customer lists you can't paste into a cloud tool.
Frequently asked questions
How do I match text that isn't identical in Excel?
Use approximate (fuzzy) matching — Microsoft's free Fuzzy Lookup add-in, Power Query's fuzzy merge, or Tellsheet's Cluster Values. They compare string similarity instead of requiring an exact match, so "Acme" and "ACME Inc." are treated as the same thing.
What's a good similarity threshold?
Around 0.80–0.85 catches most typos and spacing/punctuation differences without over-merging. Lower it to catch more, raise it to be stricter. Tellsheet defaults to 0.82 and previews every change so you can tune before applying.
How do I merge misspelled company or customer names?
Cluster the near-duplicates to one canonical spelling. Tellsheet's Cluster Values groups "Acme", "ACME" and "Acme Inc." and rewrites them all to the most common spelling, so a pivot or lookup counts them as one.
Why won't Remove Duplicates catch these?
Excel's Remove Duplicates is exact and space-sensitive — a trailing space or a different case is enough to keep two "identical" rows. Clean or cluster the column first, then dedupe.
Related Excel guides
Fuzzy-match near-duplicates in one click
Cluster Values cleans messy name and vendor columns right inside Excel — with a preview before every change, and nothing leaving your computer.
Get Tellsheet free See pricing