How to Compare XLSX Files Online

Below is a simple step-by-step instruction how to use online app xlCompare.com to find the difference between XLSX files.

Open Files and Get the Difference

  1. Open Files or Paste your data

    You need to open your spreadsheet on the xlCompare.com. There are several ways to open the Excel files in the online application xlCompare.com:

    1.1 Click on the heading area near the File 1(2) label.

    xlCompare opens file selection window to select Excel or CSV file on your computer.

    1.2 Or click the Open button

    Expand the heading area and click the Open ... button.

    Open Excel or CSV fileOpen ..

    1.3 Or paste your data directly to worksheet

    Paste From clipboardPaste

    Paste command allow you to compare only selected range of your worksheet or paste data from the webpage, or other source.

    After you've opened XLSX or CSV files, we are ready to the next step.

    IMPORTANT: This operation (open or paste) is performed in your browser. Files are NOT transmitted to the Internet.

    Imagine, you have these two tables:

    FILE 1

    Sample worksheet 1

    FILE 2

    Sample worksheet 2

    We will use them in our example.

  2. Select Key Columns and Heading Rows

    In general this step is optional, but it is required if your worksheet has table (database) structure. If you are working with CSV file or data, that was exported from database - it is required.

    Key Columns are used to identify if two rows represent same record in table. xlCompare.com allows to select several key columns at once.

    Heading Row usually defines header of the table and contains names of the database table.

    In our example, column ID identifies record in this table. So, it should be used as Key Column. EMAIL column can also be used as Key, as it identifies every user. Columns like NAME, EMAIL, ADDRESS, TAX ID, SKU, PART NUMBER and similar - are typical examples of the Key Column.

    Click on the

    KEY
    marker in the column heading to mark column as a key.

    First row in this table contains field names - this is very common case. So, our header consists of 1 row only.

    Click on the

    HDR
    marker in the row heading area to mark first row as header row.

    Now our spreadsheets have following look:

    Sample worksheets with heading and key column

    Key column and heading row are highlighted with color. Data is ready for comparison.

  3. Click the Compare Tables button

    After you've opened or pasted your spreadsheets into this tool, you need to click the Compare Tables button to get the comparison report.

    xlCompare provides you with a report with highlighted differences.

Understanding the Report

For the our example we've got this report from xlCompare.com
Report with differences

  1. Added Rows

    Added Row

    Rows from FILE 1 that is not present in the FILE 2. Highlighted with green background color in the report.

  2. Deleted Rows

    Deleted Row

    Rows from FILE 2 that is not present in the FILE 1. Highlighted with red background color in the report.

  3. Changed Cells

    Every cell that has different values in the corresponding rows and columns in FILE 1 and FILE2 is highlighted with orange color and bold font.

    Value from FILE 1 is shown with green text color and value from FILE 2 has red text color.

    For the numeric values, triangle icon indicates, that value was increased or decreased. In this example, corresponding value is 100, that is higher that original 95.

    Changed Cells

    When you select any cell in the report, xlCompare.com displays two corresponding rows one under another to show you context of the difference.

  4. Consolidate Report

    If your tables have a similar structure this is the option, you need. Consolidated Report is a single table created from the 2 compared worksheets. Equal cells remain in its places. Changed ones contain two values (original and changed) in the same cell.

    To switch to Consolidated report, use CONSOLIDATE button in Legend.

    Legend Area

    For the sample spreadsheets above, consolidated report looks like this one.

    Consolidated Report

    xlCompare.com allows to copy this report into clipboard or save on disk.

    Copy button in the legend copies this table into clipboard.

    Save Report button below the report saves it on disk in HTML format. You can email this file or use it for the presentation.

Filter New or Changes Rows

xlCompare.com has number of commands to filter the comparison report and get only the portion of rows you need.
Click the Added Rows item in the Legend.
xlCompare provides you with a list of all added rows, highlighted with green color.
Filter added rows
To get the absolutely identical rows between two Excel tables - click Equal Rows item in the Legend area.
Filter identical rows
As you see, xlCompare.com in more than just an XLSX file comparison tool.
This is reliable and powerful toolkit that works for you!

Export Report

Some benefits you get from xlCompare.com in addition to the highlighted report with differences.

  1. Get All Differences As Single List

    Need to review all the differences as single list?

    Or you need to forward this data to colleague by email?

    List with differences

    REPORT area displays list of differences on the left side of the FILE 1 area.

    When you select a cell in this table, xlCompare.com selects corresponding cell in the comparison report to point you to the difference.

  2. How to copy this list into email?

    Click on the any cell in the Difference Report area.

    Press Ctrl+A to select the entire report.

    Right click on the any cell.

    Select Copy element in the context menu.

    Context menu in the diff list

    Now this table is in the clipboard and you can paste it into the any application on your computer - email, Excel, Word, etc.

  3. Save report on your computer

    COPY command in the Heading area is a universal method to export the comparison report.

    Copy report

    It copies Comparison Report with all highlighted cells into the clipboard in HTML format.

    You can paste it into Excel worksheet to save the data on hard drive or in the cloud for future processing.

    Save Report button saves the comparison report on disk in the presentation form. Use this command to save report as a file and send it to colleague.

    Save report button

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