Compare Data in Excel Fast: Highlight Matches & Differences #excel #exceltricks #excelshorts

Learn how to compare data in Excel and quickly highlight matches, duplicates, and differences. This Shorts tutorial covers side‑by‑side comparisons, list lookups, and conditional formatting using XLOOKUP, MATCH, COUNTIF, and EXACT in Excel 365 and Excel 2021 for a USA audience. What you’ll learn: • Compare two lists and flag items that don’t match. • Highlight duplicates and unique values with Conditional Formatting. • Check if values from List A exist in List B using XLOOKUP/MATCH. • Do case‑sensitive comparisons with EXACT. • Build clean “Match/Missing/Different” status labels for reports. Quick formulas: • Exists in B? in C2: `=ISNUMBER(MATCH(A2,$B:$B,0))` • Match/Missing label: `=IF(ISNUMBER(MATCH(A2,$B:$B,0)),"Match","Missing")` • XLOOKUP check: `=IFERROR(XLOOKUP(A2,$B:$B,$B:$B,""),"")""` • Row-by-row difference (A vs B): `=A2B2` • Case‑sensitive compare: `=EXACT(A2,B2)` • Items in A not in B (dynamic array): `=FILTER(A2:A100,ISNA(MATCH(A2:A100,B2:B100,0)))` • Duplicate count: `=COUNTIF($A:$A,A2)` Conditional Formatting: • Duplicates: Home → Conditional Formatting → Highlight Cells → Duplicate Values. • Unique in A vs B (apply to A2:A100): `=ISNA(MATCH(A2,$B:$B,0))` Pro tips: • Normalize before comparing: TRIM spaces, UPPER/LOWER for case, consistent mm/dd/yyyy dates. • For filtered lists, use COUNTIFS with multiple criteria to avoid false matches. • Use Remove Duplicates for cleanup, then keep a backup sheet for audit. If this helped, please like the video, comment your scenario (emails, IDs, SKUs), and subscribe for more Excel Shorts. Primary keywords: compare data in Excel, compare two lists Excel, highlight differences Excel, highlight duplicates Excel Secondary keywords: XLOOKUP vs VLOOKUP, MATCH and COUNTIF Excel, conditional formatting duplicates, case sensitive compare Excel, Excel 365 tutorial, Excel 2021, spreadsheet tips Hashtags #Excel, #ExcelTips, #DataComparison, #ExcelTutorial, #ExcelFormulas, #MicrosoftExcel, #ExcelShorts, #YouTubeShorts, #ConditionalFormatting, #XLOOKUP, #VLOOKUP, #COUNTIF, #MATCH, #Spreadsheet, #Productivity, #Office365, #DataAnalysis, #excelforbeginners