Compare data in two columns to find duplicates in Excel

This article describes how xlCompare can be used to compare worksheet data and find duplicated entries

You can find different methods on the web, which can solve this task. You can use MATCH function to find duplicated records or you can create a VBA macro to compare items in both lists.

xlCompare offers you another much simple way to find duplicated records in 2 lists of records. xlCompare processes both lists and finds added, deleted, changed and equal items. In the context of this task all equal items are duplicated records – they are present in both lists.

When comparison operation is completed – you get color-coded comparison report where you can see duplicated records. Comparison Report window has a command which creates intersection of the compared spreadsheets. This command will give you duplicated records in one click. So, you need only 2 clicks to get duplicated records. This way is much easier than using MATCH function or VBA macro.

So, let’s make a conclusion. What you get from xlCompare when doing this job?

  • You should not enter anything into Excel. Just make 2 clicks and get the results.
  • MACTH function and VBA macro is much slower than algorithm used by xlCompare.
  • xlCompare doesn’t make a mistakes in the comparison operations.

Using similar command you can extract data which is present only in one workbook, and not present in the another one. This task is also easy for xlCompare and require only two clicks from you.

xlCompare is a feature-rich tool. It can perform many operations for you, based on the worksheet comparison.