USE THE EXACT FUNCTION TO COMPARE TWO COLUMNS USING MICROSOFT EXCEL

There are two ways to compare two columns. With the IF function, it doesn’t matter if the text is written in upper- or lowercase. The EXACT function, on the other hand, can distinguish between upper- and lowercase.

EXACT(text1, text2)
text1: The first text string.
text2: The second text string.

To compare two columns:

1. In a worksheet, copy columns A and B from Figure 3-6.
2. Select cells C2:C10 and type the following formula: =EXACT(A2,B2).
3. Press <-Ctrl+Enter->.
4. Select cells D2:D10 and type the following formula: =IF(A2=B2,TRUE,FALSE).
5. Press <-Ctrl+Enter->.

USE THE EXACT FUNCTION TO COMPARE TWO COLUMNS USING MICROSOFT EXCEL

Note: Differences in formatting don’t matter. The function will still work, as shown in cells A7 and B7; B7 contains the numeric value of the date in A7. Extraneous blanks in cells, as shown in row 8, also don’t matter.