Looking for a method in Google Sheets where checking one checkbox automatically selects others for duplicate entries. For example, if the value ‘Red’ appears multiple times in a column and one box is checked, all boxes associated with ‘Red’ should become checked. Any suggestions to create this functionality without external links would be appreciated.
I solved a similar issue by turning to Google Apps Script instead of relying solely on formula workarounds. Writing an onEdit trigger to detect changes in a checkbox cell allowed me to iterate through the target column, find duplicate values, and update corresponding checkboxes accordingly. Although it took some experimentation, the scripting approach proved to be more robust and flexible than a formula-only solution, especially when dealing with dynamic datasets and maintaining real-time accuracy without the need for additional helper columns.
My approach was to use a helper column with a formula that essentially aggregates the checked status for each group of duplicate values. What I did was to create an extra column that uses a function combining logical tests, so if any cell in the group is TRUE then each corresponding cell is set to TRUE. This allowed the checkboxes to mirror each other without needing a full script. Although this method requires setting up a hidden column to perform the aggregation, it effectively maintains synchronization among duplicates and keeps the solution within the built-in functionality of Sheets.
hey im not 100% sure but u could try using an arrayformula with countif to flag duplicates and then link that to the checkboxes. its a bit hacky and may reqire a helper column so experiment a bit, hope it helps!