Pandas unstack problems: ValueError: Index contains duplicate entries, cannot reshape

Here’s an example DataFrame which show this, it has duplicate values with the same index. The question is, do you want to aggregate these or keep them as multiple rows?

In [11]: df
Out[11]:
   0  1  2      3
0  1  2  a  16.86
1  1  2  a  17.18
2  1  4  a  17.03
3  2  5  b  17.28

In [12]: df.pivot_table(values=3, index=[0, 1], columns=2, aggfunc='mean')  # desired?
Out[12]:
2        a      b
0 1
1 2  17.02    NaN
  4  17.03    NaN
2 5    NaN  17.28

In [13]: df1 = df.set_index([0, 1, 2])

In [14]: df1
Out[14]:
           3
0 1 2
1 2 a  16.86
    a  17.18
  4 a  17.03
2 5 b  17.28

In [15]: df1.unstack(2)
ValueError: Index contains duplicate entries, cannot reshape

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One solution is to reset_index (and get back to df) and use pivot_table.

In [16]: df1.reset_index().pivot_table(values=3, index=[0, 1], columns=2, aggfunc='mean')
Out[16]:
2        a      b
0 1
1 2  17.02    NaN
  4  17.03    NaN
2 5    NaN  17.28

Another option (if you don’t want to aggregate) is to append a dummy level, unstack it, then drop the dummy level…