Note that this is different than what we have seen when comparing each row. If you want to compare two columns and highlight matching data, you can use the duplicate functionality in conditional formatting. This will highlight all the cells where the names are the same in each row.Ĭompare Two Columns and Highlight Matches Click the Format button and specify the format you want to apply to the matching cells.In the formula field, enter the formula: =$A1=$B1.In the ‘New Formatting Rule’ dialog box, click on the ‘Use a formula to determine which cells to format’.From the drop-down, click on ‘New Rule’.In the Styles group, click on the ‘Conditional Formatting’ option.If you want to highlight the rows that have matching data (instead of getting the result in a separate column), you can do that by using Conditional Formatting. Example: Highlight Rows with Matching Data With the above formula, ‘IBM’ and ‘ibm’ would be considered two different names and the above formula would return ‘Mismatch’. Note: In case you want to make the comparison case sensitive, use the following IF formula: =IF(EXACT(A2,B2),'Match','Mismatch') If you want to get a more descriptive result, you can use a simple IF formula to return “Match” when the names are the same and “Mismatch” when the names are different. If there is a match, I need the result as “TRUE”, and if doesn’t match, then I need the result as “FALSE”.Įxample: Compare Cells in the Same Row (using IF formula) Example: Compare Cells in the Same Rowīelow is a data set where I need to check whether the name in column A is the same in column B or not. In this case, you need to do a row by row comparison and identify which rows have the same data and which ones does not. This one is the simplest form of comparison.

If you think there is something that can be added to this tutorial, let me know in the comments section Compare Two Columns For Exact Row Match However, the basic principles would remain the same. Note that the techniques to compare columns shown in this tutorial are not the only ones.īased on your dataset, you may need to change or adjust the method.

Example: Pull the Matching Data (Partial).

Example: Pull the Matching Data (Exact).

Compare Two Columns and Pull the Matching Data.

Compare Two Columns and Find Missing Data Points.

Example: Compare Two Columns and Highlight Mismatched Data.

Example: Compare Two Columns and Highlight Matching Data.

Compare Two Columns and Highlight Matches.Example: Highlight Rows with Matching Data.Example: Compare Cells in the Same Row (using IF formula).Compare Two Columns For Exact Row Match.

Excel difference between two columns