assign serial numbers to unique values in excel

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Why Do Companies Use Serial Numbers?

Many products you have in your home have unique serial numbers printed on them. Companies assign serial numbers to their products. If you ever have to contact a company regarding a product, one of the first things you’ll need to do is provide the serial number of the item.

What’s a Serial Number

A serial number is a unique string of numbers and letters assigned to a product or item. You could compare a serial number to a fingerprint, in that each number is uniquely tied to a specific item to identify it. Depending on the item, a serial number might be stamped onto a product sticker, engraved into metal or embedded into an electronic device. Serial numbers can even be connected to the purchaser, in the case of software programs.

How Serial Numbers Are Created

It’s possible to use tools or programs to generate serial numbers. These tools create random codes in batches, which can then be assigned to products. With the assignment of serial numbers, it’s necessary to record each assignment to track the products. Then, the serial numbers will enable management of inventory or products that are sold.

Typical Uses of Serial Numbers

Manufacturers use serial numbers to track merchandise, often for quality control purposes. Serial numbers can make it possible to recall products when necessary. The manufacturer would publish a list of serial numbers, possibly also contacting purchasers if contact information is kept on file.

Serial numbers connected to software enable manufacturers to limit the number of installations performed for each product. Installation of the software registers it with the manufacturer, who can then block any further installations from occurring.

Serial numbers are also useful for managing warranties. After purchase, manufacturers will require that consumers register products by providing serial numbers. Then, if a consumer wants to initiate a warranty request, it will be necessary to provide the date of purchase and serial number.

Internal Use of Serial Numbers

Internally, a company can use serial numbers to manage inventory. When tools or equipment are used, the company can identify and track when and where the equipment is used to make sure it is returned to storage.

Tips for Finding Serial Numbers

Locating a serial number can be challenging. If you have an appliance or a hardware device, look on the bottom or back of the item. You’ll usually find a sticker with the model number and serial number printed on it. Sometimes serial numbers are engraved in metal too. For software installed with a CD, look on the CD case or in the packaging to find the serial number. Sometimes serial numbers are also embedded in the product information of the software.

How to Assign a Serial Number to Duplicate or Unique Values in Excel?

Let us assume we have collected the data from a public source and you want to add the ID to each result. To do that, first we need to know how many unique items are present in the sheet. This tutorial will help you understand how you can assign a serial number to duplicate or unique values in Excel. Here we will have two parts. The first part is about assigning serial numbers to unique values, and the next part is about assigning serial numbers to duplicate values.

Assigning a Serial Number to Duplicate Values in Excel

Here we will first use the COUNTIF formula and then fill in all the results to get our final output. Let us see a simple process to assign serial numbers to duplicate values.

Let us assume we have an Excel sheet where the data is similar to the data shown in the below image.

assign serial numbers to unique values in excel

To assign the serial number to duplicates, click an empty cell; in our case, it will be B2, and enter the formula =COUNTIF( $ A $ 2:A2,A2) in the formula box, then click on Enter to get the first result as shown in the below image.

We have assigned one to the first value. Now to fill the serial drag down using the autofill handle.

Assign a Serial Number to Unique Values in Excel

Here we will first use the formula to get our final result. Let us see a simple process to assign a serial number to unique values in Excel.

Let us consider the same data that we used in the above example.

To assign serial numbers to unique values, click on an empty cell, in our case cell B2, and enter the formula =IF(COUNTIF(A $ 2:A2,A2)=1,MAX(B $ 1:B1)+1,VLOOKUP(A2,A $ 1:B1,2,0)) in the formula box. Click on Enter to get the first result as shown in the below image.

We can successfully assign number to first value. Then drag down from the first result till all the results are printed, and our final output will look similar to the below image.

In this tutorial, we used a simple example to demonstrate how we can assign a serial number to duplicate or unique values in Excel to highlight a particular set of data.

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How to assign serial number to duplicate or unique values in Excel?

If you have a list of values which contains some duplicates, is it possible for us to assign sequential number to the duplicate or unique values? It means giving a sequential order for the duplicate values or unique values as following screenshot shown. This article, I will talk about some simple formulas to help you solving this task in Excel.

Assign serial number to duplicate values with Formula

Assign serial number to unique value with formula.

To order the duplicate values, please apply the following formula:

Enter this formula: =COUNTIF($A$2:A2,A2) into a blank cell beside your data, and then drag the fill handle down to the cells which you want to apply this formula, and the cell values have been assigned based on the duplicate values, see screenshot:

To assign serial number to unique value, the below formula may do you a favor:

Enter this formula: =IF(COUNTIF(A$2:A2,A2)=1,MAX(B$1:B1)+1,VLOOKUP(A2,A$1:B1,2,0)) into a blank cell beside your data, and then drag the fill handle down to the cells that you want to apply this formula, and the unique values have been ordered as following screenshot shown:

1. In the above formula, A2 is the cell contain the value you want to assign, B1 is the above cell where your formula located.

2. These formulas also can applied to the values in sorted list, and you will get the following result as you want:

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Assign sequential numbers to unique values in a list

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Hi, Please can you help me assign a sequential number to each new value in an unsorted list, and where duplicates occur, assign the same number as the duplicate E.g. A 1 B 2 C 3 D 4 A 1 C 3 E 5 Thank you

Re: Assign sequential numbers to unique values in a list

Assuming your data starts in A2, (leaving a row above), then in B2 enter: =IF(COUNTIF(A$2:A2,A2)=1,MAX(B$1:B1)+1,VLOOKUP(A2,A$1:B1,2,0)) copied down.

Where there is a will there are many ways. If you are happy with the results, please add to the contributor's reputation by clicking the reputation icon (star icon) below left corner Please also mark the thread as Solved once it is solved. Check the FAQ's to see how.

What about assigning unique values with multiple criteria, for instance: aa 1 ab 2 aa 1 ba 1 bb 2 bc 3 ca 1 ca 1 cb 2 cc 3 I am assigning unique values for each of the subsets (first letter is a, b, c). I am able to separate out the two parts in the first column like this: a a 1 a b 2 a a 1 b a 1 b b 2 b c 3 c a 1 c a 1 c b 2 c c 3

I found the answer to my question. I was able to do it with the array formula as follows: {=IF(COUNTIFS(A2:A$2,A2,B2:B$2,B2)>1,VLOOKUP(C2,C1:D$1,2,0),MAX(IF(A1:A$1=A2,D1:D$1)+1))} Where column A is the first set, column B is a set within each subset in column A, column C is column A values concatenated with column B, and column D is the unique value within each subset of column A generated by the array formula. Remember to copy the array formula without the brackets around it and commit the array formula to the cell with CTRL+Shift+Enter. a a aa 1 a b ab 2 a a aa 1 b a ba 1 b b bb 2 b c bc 3 c a ca 1 c a ca 1 c b cb 2 c c cc 3 c b cb 2 a c ac 3 a b ab 2 a a aa 1 a a aa 1 a b ab 2 a a aa 1 b a ba 1 b b bb 2 b c bc 3 c a ca 1 c a ca 1 c b cb 2 c c cc 3 c b cb 2 a c ac 3 a b ab 2 a a aa 1

I want to achieve a similar objective, but when I insert the formula, it will not insert a number to a respective duplicate value. After inserting the formula =if(COUNTIF(H$2:H2,H2)=1,MAX(I$1:I1)+1,VLOOKUP(H2,H$1:I1,0,FALSE)) It returns: H ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I Heat# ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (Blank) HT 414... Unique~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1 HT D07... Unique~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2 HT C21... Unique~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3 HT 414... Duplicate of first Unique Value~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (Blank) HT 234... Unique~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 4 My question is how do I get the duplicates to show the value given to the original unique value so that, in this example, the second and subsequent HT 414... will show 1 and so on for all possible duplicates. For instance, if HT C21 reappears, the adjacent cell will return "3" Thank you in advance.

jmshanahan welcome to the forum Unfortunately your post does not comply with Rule 2 of our Forum RULES . Do not post a question in the thread of another member -- start your own thread. If you feel an existing thread is particularly relevant to your need, provide a link to the other thread in your new thread. Old threads are often only monitored by the original participants. New threads not only open you up to all possible participants again, they typically get faster response, too.

1. Use code tags for VBA. [code] Your Code [/code] (or use the # button) 2. If your question is resolved, mark it SOLVED using the thread tools 3. Click on the star if you think someone helped you Regards Ford

My apologies, I made a new thread.

Thank you this thread has proven to be useful. How can the formula that was provided to the OP be modified to ignore '0' as a unique entry? =IF(COUNTIF(A$2:A2,A2)=1,MAX(B$1:B1)+1,VLOOKUP(A2,A$1:B1,2,0)) A 1 B 2 C 3 D 4 A 1 C 3 E 5 0 Blank/Nil 0 Blank/Nil 0 Blank/Nil 0 Blank/Nil (or just resolve to 0) The reason I am asking is because my field is populated from another sheet using the =INDIRECT("Sheet!A1") which resolves 0 until the referenced cell is populated. I know it's one question per thread but I think this is related closely enough?

Cottonbaler welcome to the forum Perhaps you missed my post #6 a little above your post? Unfortunately your post does not comply with Rule 2 of our Forum RULES . Do not post a question in the thread of another member -- start your own thread. If you feel an existing thread is particularly relevant to your need, provide a link to the other thread in your new thread. Old threads are often only monitored by the original participants. New threads not only open you up to all possible participants again, they typically get faster response, too.

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Avoid Duplication in Serial Numbers in Excel

-- By Sumit Bansal

A friend called me and asked if there is a way to have serial numbers in such a way that they are no duplication in serial numbers in Excel.

Something as shown below:

He wanted that the serial number for India should be 1 wherever it occurs. Similarly, US is the 2nd country and should always have 2 as its serial number.

This got me thinking.

And here are the two ways that I could come up with to avoid duplication in serial numbers in Excel.

Method #1 – Using VLOOKUP Function

The first way is to use our beloved VLOOKUP function .

To do this, we first need to get a unique list of countries. Here are the steps to do that:

Create a copy of the list of countries (copy paste it in the same worksheet or another worksheet).

Serial Numbers in Excel - Remove Duplicates

That’s it. You will have a list of unique country names.

In the cell, where you want the serial numbers (B3:B15), use the below VLOOKUP formula:

=VLOOKUP(C3,$F$3:$G$8,2,0)

This VLOOKUP formula takes the country name as the lookup value, checks for it in the data in F3:G8, and returns its serial number.

Method #2 – A Dynamic Formula

While the VLOOKUP method is a perfectly fine way of doing this, it is not dynamic.

So if I add a new country or change an existing country, this method would not work and you will have to repeat the entire process of method #1 again.

Here is a formula that makes it dynamic:

=IF( COUNTIF ($C$3:$C4,$C4)=1, MAX ($B$3:$B3)+1, INDEX ($B$3:$C$ 18, MATCH ($C4,$C$3:$C4,0),1))

To use this formula, you need to manually enter 1 in the first cell, and the above formula in all the other remaining cells.

How it work s:

It uses an IF function that checks the number of times a country has occurred prior to that row. If the country name occurs for the first time, the count is 1 and the condition is TRUE, and if the country name has occurred earlier as well, the count is more than 1 and the condition is FALSE.

When the condition is TRUE:

=MAX($B$3:$B3)+1

If the value is TRUE, which means that the country name is appearing for the first time, it identifies the maximum value of serial number till then and adds 1 to it to give the next serial number value.

When Value if FALSE:

=INDEX($B$3:$C$18,MATCH($C4,$C$ 3:$C4,0),1)

If the country has already occurred earlier, this formula goes to the cell where it appears first and returns the serial number of the first occurrence of that country.

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How to assign serial number to duplicate or unique values in Excel?

Assign serial number to duplicate values with formula.

To order the duplicate values, please apply the following formula:

Assign serial number to unique value with Formula

To assign serial number to unique value, the below formula may do you a favor:

1. In the above formula, A2 is the cell contain the value you want to assign, B1 is the above cell where your formula located.

2. These formulas also can applied to the values in sorted list, and you will get the following result as you want:

How to Assign Serial Number to Unique Values with Condition in Excel

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Candyman8019, well-known member.

What is the desired format of your unique serial number? Assuming if column A, B and D are duplicated then the serial number will also be duplicated?

Candyman8019 said: What is the desired format of your unique serial number? Assuming if column A, B and D are duplicated then the serial number will also be duplicated? Click to expand...