Compare two different excel 2007 files

They have a trial you can use to see if it'll work. If you have MS Access you could create a link to the spreadsheets and probably use the Duplicates query wizard. The two spreadsheets have to compared to each other in regards to duplicates correct? Am I also correct in understanding that the spreadsheets can't be merged?

When you wrote, "So far i have tried using conditional format to highlight all duplicates, but it seems to miss some. Is that true? For instance, excel considers [ Main St. NE ] to all be different entries and thus not duplicates. If you have to de-duplicate the spreadsheets, there has to be a least a field or two that they share. Do all the fields have an equal opportunity to contain a duplicate? Like an address or phone number, but not an ID number?

I can explain this in greater detail after you answer some of the questions. It will depend on the type of data in the field. To continue this discussion, please ask a new question. Spiceworks Help Desk. And when you close any one instance of the open file, the name would revert back to the original. So instead of doing this manually, you can use the power of Conditional Formatting to quickly highlight any differences in the two Excel sheets. This method is really useful if you have two versions in two different sheets and you want to quickly check what has changed.

Since Conditional Formatting can not refer to an external Excel file, the sheets you need to compare needs to be in the same Excel workbook. For this example, suppose you have a dataset as shown below for two months Jan and Feb in two different sheets and you want to quickly compare the data in these two sheets and check if the prices of these items have changed or not.

Conditional formatting highlights a cell when the given formula for that cell returns a TRUE. When conditional formatting finds any difference in the data, it highlights that in the Jan sheet the one in which we have applied the conditional formatting. This method would work if want to compare two separate Excel workbook or worksheets in the same workbook. Let me show you an example where I am comparing two datasets in two sheets in the same workbook.

Suppose you have the dataset as shown below in a sheet called Jan and similar data in a sheet called Feb , and you want to know what values are different. Copy and paste this formula for a range so that it covers the entire dataset in both the sheets.

Since I have a small dataset, I will only copy and paste this formula in A1:B10 range. The above formula uses an IF condition to check for differences. In case there is no difference in the values, it will return blank, and in case there is a difference, it will return the values from both the sheets in separate lines in the same cell. The good thing with this method is that it only gives you the differences and show you exactly what the difference is.

In this example, I can easily see that the price in cell B4 and B8 are different as well as the exact values in these cells. Suppose you have two sheets Jan and Feb and you want to compare and highlight differences in the Jan sheet, you can use the below VBA code:. The above code uses the For Next loop to go through each cell in the Jan sheet the entire used range and compares it with the corresponding cell in the Feb sheet. In case it finds a difference which is checked using the If-Then statement , it highlights those cells in yellow.

In those ways, you will be able to do this comparison with a click of a button. Here are the steps to save this code in the Personal Macro Workbook. And here you will find the steps to add this macro code to the QAT. Another quick way to compare two Excel files and check for matches and differences is by using a free third-party tool such as XL Comparator. This is a web-based tool where you can upload two Excel files and it will create a comparison file that will have the data that is common or different data based on what option you selected.

If both sheets have cells with different values or content, the Aspose Excel comparison tool will highlight the differences in yellow. The limitation of these web-based tools is that they mostly highlight different values. Spreadsheet Compare is a reliable software for comparing two Excel files or worksheets.

Regular cells with different values will have a green highlight. Cells with formulas are formatted purple while cells with a macro will sport a turquoise fill color.

Select Export Results to generate and save a copy of the results to your computer as an Excel document. The report will indicate the sheet s and cell references with varying datasets, as well as the exact values of the old and new data. You can share the Excel report with your colleagues, team, or other people working collaboratively on the file. When installing the setup file, make sure you check the Register and activate the add-in in Excel box. After installation, launch Spreadsheet Compare and follow these steps to use the program to compare the Excel documents.