Compare Two Columns in Excel for Match

Comparing and matching two columns in excel data can be done in several ways deepening upon the tools user know, and also it depends on the data structure. For an example, a user may want to compare or match two columns and get the result as TRUE or FALSE; some user wants the result in their own words, some users want to highlight all the matching data, some users want to highlight only unique values. Like this, depending on the requirement of the user, we can do the matching.

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Source: Compare and Match Columns in Excel (wallstreetmojo.com)

Examples

Below are the examples of matching or comparing two columns in excel.

You can download this Match Two Columns Excel Template here – Match Two Columns Excel Template

Example #1 – Compare Two Columns Data

For example, assume you have received city names from two different sources, which are sorted from A to Z. Below is the data set for this example.

Follow the below steps:

We have city names from two different sources; we need to match whether Source 1 data is equal to Source 2 or not. This can be done by simple basic excel formulasBasic Excel Formulas The term "basic excel formula" refers to the general functions used in Microsoft Excel to do simple calculations such as addition, average, and comparison. SUM, COUNT, COUNTA, COUNTBLANK, AVERAGE, MIN Excel, MAX Excel, LEN Excel, TRIM Excel, IF Excel are the top ten excel formulas and functions.read more The term "basic excel formula" refers to the general functions used in Microsoft Excel to do simple calculations such as addition, average, and comparison. SUM, COUNT, COUNTA, COUNTBLANK, AVERAGE, MIN Excel, MAX Excel, LEN Excel, TRIM Excel, IF Excel are the top ten excel formulas and functions.read more The term "basic excel formula" refers to the general functions used in Microsoft Excel to do simple calculations such as addition, average, and comparison. SUM, COUNT, COUNTA, COUNTBLANK, AVERAGE, MIN Excel, MAX Excel, LEN Excel, TRIM Excel, IF Excel are the top ten excel formulas and functions.read more. Open Equal sign in C2 cell.
Since we are matching Source 1 = Source 2, let’s select the formula as A2 = B2.
Press the Enter key. If Source 1 is equal to Source 2, we will get the result as TRUE or else FALSE.
Drag the formula to the remaining cells to get the result.

In some cells, we got the result as FALSE (colored cells), which means Source 1 data is not equal to Source 2. Let’s look at each cell in detail.

Cell C3: In A3 cell, we have “New York,” and in B3 cell, we have “NewYork.” Here the difference is we don’t have space characters after the word “New.” So the result is FALSE.

Cell C7: In A7 cell, we have “Bangalor,” and in cell B7, we have “Bengaluru.” So both are different, and obviously, the result is FALSE.

Cell C9: This is a special case. In cell A9 & B9, we have the same value as “New Delhi,” but still, we got the result as FALSE. This is an extreme case but a real-time example. By just looking at the data, we cannot really tell what the difference is; we need to go minute analysis mode.
Let’s apply the LEN function in excelLEN Function In Excel The Len function returns the length of a given string. It calculates the number of characters in a given string as input. It is a text function in Excel as well as an inbuilt function that can be accessed by typing =LEN( and entering a string as input.read more for each cell, which tells the number of characters in the selected cell.
In cell A9, we have 9 characters, but in cell B9, we have ten characters, i.e., one extra character in cell B9. Press the F2 key (edit) in cell B9.
As we can see, there is one trailing space character entered after the word “Delhi,” which is contributing as an extra character. To overcome these kinds of scenarios, we can apply the formula with the TRIM function, which removes all the unwanted space characters. Below is the way of applying the TRIM function.

Now, look at the result in cell C9; this time, we got the result as TRUE because since we have applied a TRIM function, it has eliminated the trailing space in cell B9, now this is equal to the cell A9.

Example #2 – Case Sensitive Match

In case if you want to match or compare two columns with case sensitive approach, then we need to use the Exact function in excel.

The Exact Function looks for two values and returns TRUE if the value 1 is equal to value 2. For example, if the value 1 is “Mumbai” and value 2 is “MUMBAI” it will return FALSE because the value 1 characters are in proper format and value 2 characters are in uppercase format.

Take a look at the below data now.

We have two values in the form of fruit names. Now we need to match whether Value 1 is equal to Value 2 or not.

Below is the EXACT formula.

Here, value 1 is equal to value 2, so it returns “True.”

Drag the formula to other cells.

We have four values that are not exact.

Cell C3: In cell A3, we have “Orange,” and in cell B3, we have “ORANGE.” Technically both are the same since we have applied case sensitive match function EXACT. It has returned FALSE.
Cell C7: In this case, also both the values are different in case matching. Kiwi & KIWI.
Cell C8: In this example, only one character is case sensitive. “Mush Milan” and “Mush Milan.”
Cell C9: Here, too, we have only one character case sensitive. “Jack fruit” & “Jack Fruit.”

Example #3 – Change Default Result TRUE or FALSE with IF Condition

In the above example, we have got TRUE for matching cells and FALSE for non-matching cells. We can also change the result by applying the IF condition in excel.

If the values match, then we should get “Matching,” or else we should get “Not Matching” as the answer by replacing default results of TRUE or FALSE, respectively.

Let us open the IF condition in cell C3.