Forum Discussion

Copper Contributor

Oct 15, 2018

Compare several excel workbooks

I need to compare approximately 8 excel workbooks for differences. I have come across the following: https://support.office.com/en-us/article/countifs-function-dda3dc6e-f74e-4aee-88bc-aa8c2a8...

Copper Contributor

Oct 18, 2018

Hi Jan,

I wish to compare a row with two columns, one containing a name of a person, the second containing their e-mail address.

Indeed, merely comparing e-mail addresses would be enough.

Silver Contributor

Oct 18, 2018

Is this a one-off thing? If yes I would simply copy/paste the data into one single sheet with an additional column for the filename. You could also use Data, New Query, From File, From Folder and go from there.

David Yeates
Copper Contributor
Oct 22, 2018
Thank you Jan. Yes it is a 'one-off' thing. Basically I am trying to compare data (names) from multiple sheets.

I have done what you recommend, which is to copy and paste the names into a single sheet. I now have 6 columns of names and I now need identify which repeat from in every columns (although they are not necessarily also on the same row in each column) or to identify those names that do not repeat. Not sure that 'Conditional Formatting' and 'Duplicate Values' does it correctly.
- JKPieterse
  Silver Contributor
  Oct 22, 2018
  The conditional formatting should work just fine (highlight duplicates)..
  - David Yeates
    Copper Contributor
    Oct 22, 2018
    Thank you Jan. One final question, promise. The list is a very long one - around 15,000 names, so it is having a problem coping with it. I presume I just need to be patient.
    
    However, what I want to make sure of is that the duplicates are only identified if the name appears in all of the columns. Can you confirm that this is what the Conditional Formatting analysis provides. If the name was in 5 out of the 6 columns, I would not wish it to be highlighted.

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