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How to remove duplicate responses in Google Forms

A sign-up form gets the same person three times. A quiz counts one student twice. Google Forms has no "remove duplicates" button, but there are three ways to clean it up.

Updated October 2026 · 4 min read

Which method should you use?

Method	Best for	Removes from the form?
1. Delete one by one	A few duplicates	Yes
2. Google Sheets "Remove duplicates"	Cleaning a copy for analysis	No, only the sheet
3. Duplicate Cleaner add-on	Many duplicates, keeping the form tidy	Yes

Method 1: Delete duplicate responses one by one

1. Open your form and click the Responses tab.
2. Click Individual to see one response at a time.
3. Use the arrows to find the duplicate, then click the trash icon (Delete response).

This works, but it is slow: you have to compare names or emails by eye, and a deleted response cannot be restored. Fine for 2 or 3 duplicates, painful for 30.

Method 2: Remove duplicates in Google Sheets

1. In the Responses tab, click Link to Sheets.
2. In the sheet, select the columns, then choose Data → Data cleanup → Remove duplicates.
3. Pick the columns that identify a person (for example Name and Email).

Watch out: the timestamp column is always different, so leave it unchecked or nothing will match. More importantly, this only cleans the spreadsheet. The duplicates are still in your form, so the summary charts and response count in Google Forms stay wrong, and new responses keep arriving in the sheet with the old duplicates still in the form.

Method 3: Delete all duplicates at once with Duplicate Cleaner

Duplicate Cleaner is a free Google Forms add-on that removes the duplicates from the form itself.

1. Open your form and choose Add-ons → Duplicate Cleaner → Find duplicate responses.
2. Tick the questions that identify one person, such as name, email or phone number. If you tick several, all of them must match.
3. Choose whether to keep the first or the latest response.
4. Review the list: each person who submitted more than once is shown with what will be kept and deleted.
5. Download the CSV backup, then click Delete.

Upper and lower case are ignored by default, so "Noah Davis" and "noah davis" count as the same person. The add-on only reads the form you have open and does not send your responses anywhere.

See how Duplicate Cleaner works →

Before you delete anything

• Keep a backup. Deleted Google Forms responses cannot be recovered.
• Decide which one to keep. The first submission is usually the real one; the latest is better if people resubmit to fix a mistake.
• Pick a reliable key. Email is better than name, because two different people can share a name.

Stop it from happening again

You can reduce duplicates with Google Forms settings, but not always eliminate them. Read how to prevent duplicate submissions in Google Forms.

FAQ

Can I undo deleting a response?

No. Google Forms has no trash for responses, so download a backup first.

Does removing duplicates in Sheets change the form?

No. The sheet and the form are separate. Deleting rows in the sheet leaves every response in the form.

Can I find duplicates if my form doesn't collect emails?

Yes. Use any answer that identifies a person, such as name or phone number, or a combination of answers.