Fortunately, there are a number of ways to compare two Excel files.
One of those isSpreadsheet Compare, available from SourceForge.
Download and fire off the app, which installs an add-on in your Excel app.
Spreadsheet Compare works on all version of Excel after Excel 2000.
It’s only compatible with the Windows operating system.
In this menu are three options.
The older Excel file (before changes were made) should be in theFirst/Beforefield.
If it isn’t, select theSwapbutton to put it there.
Customize how the comparison performs in the next screen.
SelectNextand repeat the process for the second workbook.
Review the report configuration parameters.
Modify them if you wish and then pressNexttwice andCompareto finish.
Finally, you’ll see each original sheet updated with the changed cells highlighted in red.
This tool is a powerful way to compare entire Excel worksheets and see quick results with all the changes.
you’re free to scroll through and keep or remove the changes you want to keep.
One is to use formulas to create a third spreadsheet showing all of the differences.
Another is through conditional formatting to highlight cells that have changed.
This is accomplished using an IF formula.
The IF formula if isn’t useful for comparing entire workbooks without a lot of extra work.
To start the comparison of two Excel sheets, create a third sheet.
Label itResultsto make the results sheet easier to identify later.
This formula compares the cell from Sheet1 to the same cell in Sheet2.
If the cells are the same, the results sheet displaysNo Difference.
If they’re different, the cell provides the different values from each sheet.
This fills the comparison formula to the last column and automatically adjusts the cell references.
This fills the comparison formula to the last row and automatically adjusts the cell references.
Just scroll through to identify all of the differences.
Compare Excel Sheets With Conditional Formatting
Another approach to comparing two sheets is using conditional formatting.
Using conditional formatting is especially useful for large sheets with a lot of data.
you’re able to use conditional formatting to identify the differences.
Highlight all cells in the results sheet.
SelectConditional Formattingfrom theStylesgroup, and chooseNew Rule.
In the New Formatting Rule window that openss, selectUse a formula to determine which cells to format.
In theFormat values where this formula is truefield, paste the following formula and then selectFormat.
Just as with the formula approach, you’re free to start the formatting feature at any cell.
If your data starts at B3 instead of A2, edit this formula to use B3 instead.
The formatting will start at B3 and fill all rows and columns below and to the right of it.
Configure the formatting you want the cells to have when there are differences between the two sheets.
you’re free to select font style, underline, color, and strikethrough.
The formatting makes it easy to see where the cells on the two sheets have differences.
Excel provides an easy way to visually compare two sheets side-by-side.
In the workbook where you have two sheets you want to compare, select theViewmenu.
SelectNew Windowto kick off the same workbook in a new Excel window in the background.
Select theViewmenu again, and clickView Side by Side.
This places the two workbook windows side by side, each filling half the screen.
In one window, go for the sheet you want to compare.
Synchronized scrolling lets you scan down the spreadsheet visually to find those differences.
Open both files in the same Excel window.
In theViewmenu, selectArrange Allto split the open files into multiple sub-windows.
Select theView Side by Sideicon to view the sub-windows side-by-side and scroll both of them simultaneously.
