Compare texts in excel

This example shows two ways to compare text strings in Excel. One is case-sensitive and one is case-insensitive.

1. Use the EXACT function (case-sensitive).

Explanation: the string «Frog» in cell A1 and the string «frog» in cell B1 are not exactly equal to each other (first letter in uppercase and first letter in lowercase).

2. Use the formula =A1=B1 (case-insensitive).

Explanation: this formula ignores lowercase and uppercase differences. As a result, the first six formulas return TRUE.

3. Add the IF function to replace TRUE and FALSE with a word or message. The formula below uses the EXACT function (see step 1).

4. Do you want to compare two or more columns by highlighting the differences in each row? Visit our page about Row Differences.

Excel users often need to compare cells or columns to check if the same text is available in the cells/columns or not.

A very common example of this is when you have names in two columns and you want to check if the names are exactly the same or what names are missing in one column.

Comparing text in Excel is fairly easy and can be achieved with simple formulas.

In this tutorial, I will show you how to compare text in Excel using simple arithmetic operators or the EXACT function. I will also cover how you can compare text in two columns to find out the missing text entries.

Compare Text in Excel (Exact Cell against Cell Comparison)

Below I have a data set where I have names in column A as well as column B, and I want to compare the names in each row. I want to check whether the names in the same row are the same or not.

Let’s look at two simple ways to get this done.

Using the Equal to Operator

The equal operator can commit will pare the content in one cell with another cell, and give you a TRUE in case the cells have the exact same text in it, or FALSE in case the text is not the same.

Below is the formula that will compare the text in two cells in the same row:

=A2=B2

Enter this formula in cell C3 and then copy and paste it into all the cells.

The above formula returns a TRUE in case there is an exact match (meaning that the names are exactly the same), and it returns a FALSE in case the names do not match

In our example above, you can see that the formula returns FALSE in cells C6 and C11, indicating that the names in row #6 and row #11 are not the same.

If you want to only see the rows where the names are not the same, you can apply filters on the headers and then filter only those cells in column C where the value is FALSE

Note: For the formula to return a TRUE, the cell contents need to be exactly the same. In case there is an extra space in one of the cells, while it may look as if the cells have the same name, the formula would return a FALSE.

When you use the equal to operator, it does not consider the case of the text in the cell.

For example, if you have ‘James Baker’ in one cell and ‘james baker’ in another cell and you compare these two, the formula would return a TRUE.

In case you want the comparison to be case-sensitive, use the EXACT function method covered next.

Using the EXACT function

Another easy way to compare text in two cells in Excel is by using the EXACT function.

As the name suggests, it would return TRUE in case the content of the two cells being compared is exactly the same, and FALSE in case the contents are not the same.

Considering the same data set with names and column A and column B, below is the formula that will compare the names and give us the result

=EXACT(A2,B2)

Enter this formula in cell C3 and then copy and paste it into all the cells.

The EXACT function takes the cell reference of the cells that need to be compared as the arguments and returns a TRUE in case there is an exact match, and a FALSE if there is not.

In case you’re using newer versions of Excel that have dynamic arrays, you can also use the below formula in cell C2 (and you don’t need to copy and paste the formula in the remaining cells as the dynamic formula would spill over and fill the other cells automatically)

=EXACT(A2:A12,B2:B12)

Note that the EXACT function is case sensitive, so even if the names are exactly the same but in different cases (lower or upper, or proper), the formula would return a FALSE.

Compare Text and Find Missing Text Using VLOOKUP

Another real-life situation where you may need to compare text is when you have a list in two columns and you want to find out the items/names that are there in one column but missing in the other column.

Below I have a data set where I have some names in column A and in column B, and I want to check what names in column A are also they’re in column B, and which ones are missing

Below is the formula that would give us the text “Present” in case the name in column A is also there in column B and it would give us “Missing” in case the name in column A is not present in column B.

=IF(ISERROR(VLOOKUP(A2,$B$2:$B$9,1,0)),"Missing","Present")

Enter this formula in cell C3 and then copy and paste it into all the cells.

The above formula uses the VLOOKUP function to check for each name in column A against the list in column B.

If the VLOOKUP formula finds the name, it would return that name, and in case it doesn’t find the name, it would return the #N/A! error

I haven’t wrapped this VLOOKUP formula inside the ISERROR function so that if the names are present, it would return a FALSE, and if the names are missing then it would return a TRUE.

And then I wrapped this inside an IF function, which gives us the text ‘Present’ if the name in column A is also there in column B, as it returns the text ‘Missing’

You can also use a similar formula construct to check the other way around, whether the names in column B are present in column A or not (by adjusting the formula accordingly).

In this example, I have used the VLOOKUP function to compare the text in two columns, but this can also be done with other formulas such as INDEX/MATCH or XLOOKUP.

Compare Text and Check If Partial Text Matches

Another common situation that I have come across is when people want to compare the text in one cell with another cell, but they’re not looking for an exact comparison, and just need to check whether the text in one cell is present in the other cell or not.

Below I have a data set where I have some names in column A and in column B.

You would notice that the names in column B are only the first names, and the names in column A are full names.

Now I want to compare these two names and check whether the name in column B is there in column A or not.

As you can see, I’m not looking for an exact comparison but a partial text match.

And below is the formula that will do this for me:

=ISNUMBER(FIND(B2,A2))

Enter this formula in cell C3 and then copy and paste it into all the cells.

The above formula uses the FIND function to check whether the text value in column B is present in the cell in column A or not.

If the FIND function finds the text in column A it would return the starting position of that text (i.e., it would return a numeric value), and if it cannot find the text, it would return the VALUE error.

I have wrapped the FIND function inside the ISNUMBER function, which would return a TRUE in case the FIND function found the text in column A and returned a value, otherwise, it would return a FALSE.

In this tutorial, I covered some simple formulas that you can use to quickly compare text in Excel.

If you’re looking to compare one cell with another, you can use the equal-to operator or the EXACT function.

And if you’re trying to compare two columns, you can use the VLOOKUP function. And finally, I’ve also covered a method to show you how to compare partial text using the find function.

Other Excel tutorials you may also like:

• How to Compare Two Excel Sheets (for differences)
• How to Compare Dates in Excel (Greater/Less Than, Mismatches)
• How to Compare Two Columns in Excel (for matches & differences)
• Separate Text and Numbers in Excel (4 Easy Ways)
• How To Remove Text Before Or After a Specific Character In Excel

Compare Text

1. Use the EXACT function (case-sensitive).
2. Use the formula =A1=B1 (case-insensitive).
3. Add the IF function to replace TRUE and FALSE with a word or message.
4. Do you want to compare two or more columns by highlighting the differences in each row?

How do I identify similar text in Excel?

How to find similar values in multiple lists using the Exact function in Excel

1. Select cell E2. Then select the Formulas tab, and select Text.
2. Select Exact.
3. Ensure the cursor is in the first text box (Text1) and select cell A2.
4. Then click in the second text box (Text2) and select cell C2.
5. Select OK.

How do I compare two text columns in Excel for differences?

Compare Two Columns and Highlight Matches

1. Select the entire data set.
2. Click the Home tab.
3. In the Styles group, click on the ‘Conditional Formatting’ option.
4. Hover the cursor on the Highlight Cell Rules option.
5. Click on Duplicate Values.
6. In the Duplicate Values dialog box, make sure ‘Duplicate’ is selected.

How do I compare multiple text in Excel?

How to compare if multiple cells are equal in Excel?

1. Compare if multiple cells are equal with formulas.
2. In a blank cell besides your data, please enter this formula: =AND(EXACT(A1:D1,A1)), (A1:D1 indicates the cells that you want to compare, and A1 is the first value in your data range)see screenshot:

How do I compare partial text in Excel?

If you just want to find which name is partial match the given name, you also can use this formula =INDEX($E$2:$E$14,MATCH($K$1&”*”,E2:E14,0)). (E2:E14 is the column list you want to lookup from, k1 is the given name, you can change as you need.)

What is an Xlookup in Excel?

Use the XLOOKUP function to find things in a table or range by row.With XLOOKUP, you can look in one column for a search term, and return a result from the same row in another column, regardless of which side the return column is on.

How do you compare data in two Excel sheets for matches?

Select both columns of data that you want to compare. On the Home tab, in the Styles grouping, under the Conditional Formatting drop down choose Highlight Cells Rules, then Duplicate Values. On the Duplicate Values dialog box select the colors you want and click OK. Notice Unique is also a choice.

How do I compare two columns in Excel to match?

Excel allows a user to compare two columns by using the SUMPRODUCT function.
Using the SUMPRODUCT to Count Matches Between Two Columns

1. Select cell F2 and click on it.
2. Insert the formula: =SUMPRODUCT(–(B3:B12 = C3:C12))
3. Press enter.

How do I compare two texts?

How to Compare Document Text Using Windows 10

1. In the search box on the toolbar type Word.
2. Select Word from the search options.
3. On the MS Word toolbar click Review.
4. In the Review menu, click Compare.
5. From the two options available, select Compare…

How do I find similar text in two columns in Excel?

Example 1. Compare two columns for matches or differences in the same row

1. To compare two columns in Excel row-by-row, write a usual IF formula that compares the first two cells.
2. The result may look similar to this:
3. =IF(EXACT(A2, B2), “Match”, “”)
4. =IF(AND(A2=B2, A2=C2), “Full match”, “”)

How do I count partial text in Excel?

Select a blank cell you will place the counting result at, type the formula =COUNTIF(A1:A16,”*Anne*”) (A1:A16 is the range you will count cells, and Anne is the certain partial string) into it, and press the Enter key. And then it counts out the total number of cells containing the partial string.

How do you check if a cell contains a specific text in Excel?

To check if a cell contains specific text, use ISNUMBER and SEARCH in Excel. There’s no CONTAINS function in Excel. 1. To find the position of a substring in a text string, use the SEARCH function.

How do I match text from two sheets in Excel?

How to use the Compare Sheets wizard

1. Step 1: Select your worksheets and ranges. In the list of open books, choose the sheets you are going to compare.
2. Step 2: Specify the comparing mode.
3. Step 3: Select the key columns (if there are any)
4. Step 4: Choose your comparison options.

Is Xlookup better than VLOOKUP?

The XLOOKUP defaults to an exact match where the VLOOKUP defaults to an approximate match. As the exact match is used most often, this setting would make the XLOOKUP more effective. On top of this, the XLOOKUP offers an additional option of an approximate match returning the next larger value.

Is Xlookup faster than VLOOKUP?

Compared to a normal VLOOKUP, the binary XLOOKUP is significantly faster. But a VLOOKUP with a approximate match is still a little bit faster. The binary XLOOKUP is slightly slower than an approximate VLOOKUP (~16% slower).

How do I enable Xlookup?

1. Position the cell cursor in cell E4 of the worksheet.
2. Click the Lookup & Reference option on the Formulas tab followed by XLOOKUP near the bottom of the drop-down menu to open its Function Arguments dialog box.
3. Click cell D4 in the worksheet to enter its cell reference into the Lookup_value argument text box.

How do you compare two Excel sheets and find differences?

Compare Two Sheets and Highlight Differences (Using Conditional Formatting)

• Select the data in the sheet where you want to highlight the changes.
• Click the Home tab.
• In the Styles group, click on ‘Conditional Formatting’
• In the options that show up, click on ‘New Rule’

How do I open a compare spreadsheet?

Compare two versions of a workbook by using Spreadsheet Compare

1. Open Spreadsheet Compare.
2. In the lower-left pane, choose the options you want included in the workbook comparison, such as formulas, cell formatting, or macros.
3. On the Home tab, choose Compare Files.

How do you compare two Excel files using beyond compare?

Beyond Compare’s Table Compare session will open and compare the current sheet in the Excel file.

1. Open your . XLS or . XLSX file in Excel.
2. Switch the visible sheet to the sheet you wish to compare.
3. Save the Excel file.
4. Open and compare the file in Beyond Compare.

How does a Vlookup work?

The VLOOKUP function performs a vertical lookup by searching for a value in the first column of a table and returning the value in the same row in the index_number position.As a worksheet function, the VLOOKUP function can be entered as part of a formula in a cell of a worksheet.

How do I count matching values in Excel?

Count cells equal to

1. Generic formula. =COUNTIF(range,value)
2. To count the number of cells equal to a specific value, you can use the COUNTIF function.
3. The COUNTIF function is fully automatic — it counts the number of cells in a range that match the supplied criteria.
4. Excel COUNTIF Function.
5. Excel’s RACON functions.

By default, Excel is not case-sensitive.  For example, with «APPLE» in  A1, and «apple» in A2, the following formula will return TRUE:

=A1=A2 // returns TRUE

To compare text strings in a case-sensitive way, you can use the EXACT function. The Excel EXACT function compares two text strings, taking into account upper and lower case characters, and returns TRUE if they are the same, and FALSE if not.

If we use EXACT to compare A1 and A2 as above, the result is FALSE:

=EXACT(A1,A2) // returns FALSE

EXACT with IF

You can use this result inside the IF function to display a message or make a conditional calculation. For example, to display the message «Yes» for a match and «No» if not, you can use a formula like this:

=IF(EXACT(A2,A2),"Yes","No")