Finding duplicate values
You can find all records for which one or more fields contain duplicate values. For example, you might want to find all records that aren't unique, then examine them to decide which records to use or delete.
To find all duplicate records:
1.
Start a find request.
For more information, see Making a find request.
2.
Refer to the following table for examples of different ways to search for a range of information.
 
To find
Use this operator
Examples
All duplicate values
!
! in the Company field finds all records containing ABC Company and DEF Ltd. when duplicate values exist
Duplicate values of a specific type
!characters
!ABC in the Company field finds all records containing ABC Company when duplicate values exist
Notes
 •
One field by itself is often not sufficient to determine the uniqueness of a record. If several fields taken together determine uniqueness, you can create a calculation field (returning a text result) that concatenates the values of several fields, and then perform a find for duplicate records on that field. For example, you could use the formula First Name & Last Name & Phone Number to concatenate three fields. For more information, see Defining calculation fields.
 •
Values are duplicates only if word order is the same.
 •
When determining uniqueness in text fields, FileMaker Pro looks at the first 100 characters in each field.
 •
To delete duplicate records, see Deleting records.
 •
You can also identify duplicate records using a self-join relationship. For more information, see Finding duplicate values using a self-join relationship.
Related topics 
Replacing the contents of a field
Defining automatic data entry
Defining calculation fields
Working with related tables and files
Summarizing data in portals
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