Data Cleaning Guides for Google Sheets
Latest Articles
The blog covers data cleaning, fuzzy matching and spreadsheet workflows, with practical guides you can follow in Google Sheets. The free-method guides rely on built-in functions and short Apps Script snippets, so each technique can be tried before anything is installed.
Every Flookup article sets out a method, a worked example and the limits of the approach. Start with the free method, and move to the add-on when the data outgrows it.
AI Assistant Case Study for Google Sheets
One membership association, three jobs: the formula behind a renewal report, a multi-step monthly clean and a sponsor list that needed judgement rather than rules.
Data Connectors Case Study for Google Sheets
A worked operations month across Airtable, PostgreSQL and Salesforce: pull each source into a staging sheet, reconcile the three, then write back only the reviewed rows.
Workflow Templates Case Study for Google Sheets
One retailer, four recurring jobs: vendor matching at month end, a weekly fulfilment audit, a CRM migration merge and a Wikidata name check, each run as a template.
Sync Airtable to Google Sheets Without Duplicate Rows
Pull an Airtable table into a staging sheet, clean and deduplicate it there, then write back only the cells that changed after a preview.
Import SQL Query Results Into Google Sheets Without a CSV
Run one read only query into a staging sheet, clean and reconcile the rows, then write changed rows back through a single transaction.
Connect Salesforce to Google Sheets Without an Export
Authorise with OAuth, pick objects and fields, run a SOQL query and pull records into a staging sheet, then clean and dedupe them before sharing.
Microsoft Fuzzy Lookup Add-in for Excel
What Microsoft's free Fuzzy Lookup add-in does, how to install it on Windows, how to read the similarity score and what to use when it will not run.
Convert CSV to JSON for Free Inside Google Sheets
Build JSON from a sheet with a LET formula or convert a whole tab with Apps Script, then parse JSON back into rows and download the result as CSV.
Join CSV Files with a Free CSV Join in Google Sheets
Join two CSV files on a shared key with XLOOKUP, COUNTIF and VSTACK. Covers inner, left, right and full outer joins and the duplicate keys that break them.
Split and Merge CSV Files with a Free CSV Splitter in Sheets
Split a large CSV by rows or column value with FILTER, and merge exports back into one tab with Append rows or VSTACK.
Remove PII for Free Without Leaving Google Sheets
Find emails, phone numbers and IP addresses in a sheet, then mask, redact or hash them before the file is shared.
How to Remove Duplicate Records in Airtable with an Undo
Dedupe an Airtable base in bulk. Pull the table locally, match with fuzzy logic and write reviewed values back in batches with a full undo.
Clean Google Sheets Without Formulas Using Flookup
Clean a Google Sheet without formulas. Run Standard Data Cleaning from the sidebar to standardise, match and dedupe, and place the results where you choose.
How to Merge Salesforce Duplicate Leads Without Losing Data
Pull Salesforce records with a read only query, clean them with fuzzy matching on your own machine and write back reviewed changes with undo.
How to Clean Email Lists in Google Sheets
Trim, standardise, validate format, flag domain typos and deduplicate email lists in one sheet. A practical workflow that prepares your list before mailbox verification.
Find Duplicates in Google Sheets with COUNTIF and Formatting
Highlight duplicates in Google Sheets with COUNTIF for one column and COUNTIFS for full rows. Includes a measured accuracy test on a 1,000 row sample.
XLOOKUP vs Flookup for Fuzzy Name Matching
XLOOKUP removes column limits but still needs exact strings. See why typos still fail and how Flookup handles word order and abbreviations with a similarity score in Excel and Google Sheets.
VLOOKUP vs Flookup for Fuzzy Name Matching
VLOOKUP needs exact strings and fails on typos like Jon versus John. Learn how Flookup scores similarity and finds the closest match in Excel and Google Sheets.
Use a Free CSV Editor Inside Google Sheets
Import a CSV, clean and deduplicate the rows, reshape the columns and export a clean file, all with native Google Sheets functions.
Compare CSV Files with a Free CSV Diff in Google Sheets
Compare two CSV exports as tabs and list the rows that were added, removed or changed, with a match rate for the whole file.
Vendor Reconciliation Starts with Matching Supplier Names
Match an accounts payable list against your master vendor table with fuzzy matching. A practical four-step vendor reconciliation workflow you can run entirely in Google Sheets.
How to Do Order Reconciliation with Shipping Records in Sheets
Find out which orders never shipped. Match your orders export against the shipping log with standardised customer names and confidence scores for every order.
Consolidate Duplicate User Lists in Google Sheets
Merge an HR export and a CRM or RevOps list into one clean list of unique users. Standardise names, flag people in both systems and consolidate the rest.
AI Data Cleaning for Google Sheets
What AI-powered cleaning tools do, how they deduplicate and standardise data and when AI data cleaning beats manual spreadsheet work. Includes an AI vs manual comparison table.
How to Do Fuzzy Matching in Google Sheets
Compare columns and find approximate matches with formula approaches and the Flookup add-on. A step-by-step guide to fuzzy lookup and near-duplicate detection in Sheets.
Top 5 Fuzzy Matching Software and Tools
Flookup, Microsoft Fuzzy Lookup, OpenRefine, fuzzywuzzy, RapidFuzz and Power Query compared on setup, deduplication, profiling and cost. Includes a full comparison table.
Fuzzy Name Matching for Names Spelled Differently
How to match customer and company names despite typos, abbreviations and name order differences. Algorithms, normalisation, tokenisation and the tools that automate it.
Fuzzy Address Matching in Google Sheets
Normalise, split and fuzzy match address components to link and deduplicate records despite typos, abbreviations and formatting differences in Google Sheets.
Prepare Wikibase Data for QuickStatements in Google Sheets
Standardise labels, deduplicate records and reconcile against existing items before generating QuickStatements commands. A practical workflow for museums, knowledge bases and OpenRefine users.
Duplicate and Fuzzy Highlighting in Google Sheets
Spot fuzzy duplicates directly on your sheet with colour-coded grouping. Supports multiple colour schemes and multi-column matching so you can visually review clusters before taking action.
Pandas vs Flookup for Data Cleaning
Compare code-based data cleaning in Python pandas against Flookup's no-code fuzzy matching, deduplication and text standardisation in Google Sheets. Includes a full feature table covering profiling, fuzzy merges and Learn from Examples.
RapidFuzz vs Flookup for Python Fuzzy Matching
Compare Python RapidFuzz scoring with no-code fuzzy matching in Google Sheets. Covers pip setup on Mac, process.extract cutoffs and when to stay in the sheet.
Power Query vs Flookup for Data Cleaning
A head-to-head comparison of Microsoft Power Query's ETL engine against Flookup's Google Sheets-native cleaning tools. Covers profiling, deduplication, fuzzy matching and the M language versus Learn from Examples.
Ablebits Power Tools vs Flookup
Two Google Sheets add-ons with different jobs. Compare Ablebits Power Tools' 40+ utilities against Flookup's fuzzy matching, smart deduplication, scheduling and AI for removing duplicates and cleaning data.
Alteryx vs Flookup for Google Sheets
Enterprise analytics platform or spreadsheet-native data preparation? Compare Alteryx's governed workflows with Flookup's Google Sheets toolkit for cleaning, wrangling, enriching and scheduling data.
WinPure vs Flookup for Data Cleaning
Enterprise data quality suite or spreadsheet data cleaning? Compare WinPure Clean and Match with Flookup Data Wrangler on profiling, cleansing, deduplication and database pulls.
Entity Resolution for Data Reconciliation
A practical guide to identifying, matching and merging records across datasets. Learn the entity resolution workflow from standardisation through blocking, scoring and deduplication using Flookup tools.
Teach Google Sheets to Clean Product Codes Without Formulas
Amazon's brand protection work shows why consistent product identifiers matter. This guide uses Learn from Examples to standardise complex product codes in Google Sheets. No formulas required. Teach by example and the system learns your transformation rules.
Standardise Phone Numbers in Google Sheets
Google built libphonenumber because phone number formats are inconsistent everywhere. This guide shows how Learn from Examples reformats phone numbers across multiple formats in Google Sheets. No complex formulas or regex required.
Standardise Customer Names in Google Sheets
In 2005 investigators linked 40,000 pilots against disability records by matching names written differently. This guide shows how Learn from Examples standardises customer names in Google Sheets. Handle titles, suffixes, name reordering and case conversion by example.
Dirty Data Horror Stories and Costly Spreadsheet Mistakes
Real-world dirty data horror stories from NASA, Knight Capital and more. Learn how spreadsheet mistakes in unit conversion, deduplication and data decay led to catastrophic financial losses and how to prevent them.
Use a Data Quality Audit Checklist Before You Clean Any Rows in Google Sheets
A practical checklist for evaluating your Google Sheets datasets across six core dimensions of data quality. Includes actionable checks, formula examples and guidance on building a repeatable audit schedule.
Semantic Fuzzy Matching with AI in Google Sheets
How embeddings improve deduplication and hybrid strategies to combine with Flookup for high-accuracy results. Practical examples show when embeddings add value versus classical methods.
Python Fuzzy Matching Works Best with RapidFuzz and Pandas
A practical guide to data cleaning and fuzzy matching in Python using popular libraries. Discover how Flookup offers a powerful and more intuitive alternative for your data workflows, with code examples you can reuse.
Google Sheets AI Assistant Cleans Data with a Prompt
Learn how to use Flookup's menu tools and Sheets AI Assistant for powerful data cleaning in Google Sheets. Practical guide with real-world examples for fuzzy matching, deduplication and text standardisation.
The Hidden Costs of Dirty Data in Google Sheets
Dirty data can silently drain your resources. This article explores the hidden costs, explains the 1-10-100 rule and shows why investing in a solid data cleaning strategy is a business imperative. It includes simple metrics to help quantify the impact for your organisation.
CRM Data Cleaning for Marketing Teams
CRM data cleaning for marketing teams in Google Sheets. Normalise accounts, remove duplicate contacts and duplicate leads, then reimport clean masters to HubSpot or Salesforce.
Data Trust for AI and RAG in Google Sheets
Why AI agents hallucinate and how a Semantic Data Trust Layer prevents it. Learn how entity resolution in Google Sheets ensures high-integrity data for RAG pipelines and LLMs by resolving entities before they reach the model.
How to Remove Duplicates in Google Sheets
Go beyond basic duplicate removal. This guide shows you how to eliminate all types of duplicates in Google Sheets, including fuzzy and partial matches, using Flookup. Step-by-step examples make it easy to follow along on your own data.
Soundex in Google Sheets for Name Matching
Understand the Soundex algorithm and how phonetic matching works for cleaning name data with practical examples to try.
SEO Site Migration and Redirect Mapping
Simplify your next website migration. Learn how to use Flookup in Google Sheets to create accurate 301 redirect maps and manage 404 errors, ensuring a smooth SEO transition. Includes a downloadable template to jump-start the process.
OpenRefine Alternatives for Data Cleaning in Google Sheets
Flookup is an OpenRefine alternative that runs inside Google Sheets, offering scheduled automation and fuzzy matching with a similarity score. This article compares workflows so you can choose the right tool for each task.
Fuzzy Matching in Excel for Mac
The Excel Fuzzy Lookup Add-in is not available on Mac. This guide covers the best alternatives, from Power Query to Flookup, for Mac users who need fuzzy matching in their spreadsheet workflow. Includes setup notes and recommended alternatives for common scenarios.
Top 10 Fuzzy Matching Algorithms Explained
Go beyond exact matches. This guide demystifies fuzzy matching algorithms, explaining how they work, what similarity scores mean and how to apply them for smarter data cleaning. Includes recommended thresholds and examples to help you choose settings.
How to Automate Data Cleaning in Google Sheets
Stop wasting time on repetitive data cleaning. This tutorial teaches you how to record and use macros in Google Sheets to automate your cleaning tasks, boosting speed and accuracy. Offers practical examples and common pitfalls to avoid.
What Is Data Cleaning? A Guide for Google Sheets
Understand the fundamentals of data cleaning in Google Sheets. This guide covers key concepts, common data quality issues and practical strategies using Flookup Data Wrangler, plus a short checklist to get started.
Excel Fuzzy Lookup Add-in Alternative for Windows and Mac
Move beyond the limitations of the legacy Excel Fuzzy Lookup Add-in. This article compares it to Flookup, with an interactive threshold demo and migration tips for Excel users.