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Quickly compare two ranges to select / shade duplicate or unique values in Excel

Kutools for Excel

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Normally, you can use the Conditional Formatting function to find out the differences between two ranges in Excel. But it is too complex to use. Kutools for Excel’s Select Same & Different Cells utility can help you easily select or shade duplicate or unique values based on each row or single cell in Excel.

Compare two ranges and find same or different records based on each row

Compare two ranges and find same or different cells based on single cell


Click Kutools > Select > Select Same & Different Cells. See screenshots:

shot compare ranges001  2 shot compare ranges 02

 Compare two ranges and find same or different records based on each row

1. Hold down CTRL key to select two ranges that you want to compare as follows (See Screenshot). Note: This utility will select duplicates in Range A. You can specify the Range A and Range B across different worksheets and workbooks.

shot compare ranges 03

2. Apply this utility and in the Select Same & Different Cells dialog box, you can specify the following options:

(1.) If you don’t select the ranges in Step1, you can click button to select Find values in (Range A) and According to (Range B) that you want to compare.

(2.) If there are headers in your data and you want to ignore comparing them, please check My data has headers option.

(3.) Select Each row under the Based on section.

(4.) Specify Same Values or Different Values under Find section to search duplicate or unique rows between two ranges.

(5.) You can fill the duplicate or unique values with background color or font color as you like by checking Fill backcolor or Fill font color under the Processing of results section.

(6.) If you want to select the entire rows within the used range, please check Select entire rows option. Check Case sensitive option, if you want case-sensitive comparing.

shot compare ranges 04

3. Click OK, and the same or different records will be selected as well as colored as following screenshot shown:

shot compare ranges 05
shot compare ranges 06

Notes:

1. My data has headers option will ignore the header cells while comparing two ranges.

2. The Find values in (Range A) and According to (Range B) must have the same number of columns during comparing two ranges.

3. This utility will select the duplicates or unique values in Range A during comparing two ranges. If you want to select the duplicates or unique values in Range B, you just need to exchange the two ranges.

4. You can specify the Range A and Range B across different worksheets.


 Compare two ranges and find same or different cells based on single cell

This utility also can help you to compare two ranges and find the same or different cell values based on single cell. Please do as follows:

1. Hold down CTRL key to select two ranges that you want to compare as follows (See Screenshot). Note: This utility will select duplicates in Range A. You can specify the Range A and Range B across different worksheets and workbooks.

shot compare ranges 07

2. In the Select Same & Different Cells dialog box, you can specify the following options:

(1.) If you don’t select the ranges in Step1, you can click button to select Find values in (Range A) and According to (Range B) that you want to compare.

(2.) Select Single cell under the Based on section.

(3.) Specify Same Values or Different Values under Find section to search duplicate or unique cells between two ranges.

(4.) You can fill the duplicate or unique values with background color or font color as you like by checking Fill backcolor or Fill font color under the Processing of results section.

(5.) Check Case sensitive option, if you want case-sensitive comparing

shot compare ranges 08

3. After finishing the settings, please click Ok, and the same or different cells based on single cell are selected and colored in Range A as followings:

shot compare ranges 09
shot compare ranges 10

Notes:

1. This utility will select the duplicates or unique values in Range A during comparing two ranges. If you want to select the duplicates or unique values in Range B, you just need to exchange the two ranges.

2. You can specify the Range A and Range B across different worksheets.


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Comments (11)
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This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
When comparing two columns where the duplicate values in further down a column it doesn't match.
column A, Column B
3333, 4444
222,333
4444,3222


I need to match the 4444 with the 4444 in the first column. Is there a way to do this? From your example they need to be right next to each other.
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
Hi I have a a column with multiple names of a person and another columns with a classification rating i.e. Excellent, Very Good,Good, Fair. Poor I need to count the number of times a particular person has been awarded Excellent in one column and in the next column Good etc. The person appears in the list several times so it needs to allow for more than one entry of the person. Many thanks
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
I haven't bought the product yet, want to try it out first. But I found that I can't use the function Compare Range, the rows are "grey" and do not come up with anything. Do I do something wrong or don't I have the correct version for test? Rgds Susanne
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
[quote]I haven't bought the product yet, want to try it out first. But I found that I can't use the function Compare Range, the rows are "grey" and do not come up with anything. Do I do something wrong or don't I have the correct version for test? Rgds SusanneBy Susanne[/quote] Please try to contact me with more detailed information of your issue at jaychivo#extendoffice.com, please replace # with @. Or please try to create some sample data in new workbook and try it out. If the problem persists with the sample workbook, please attache it in your email. :-)
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
Does Kutools have a feature where duplicates from a column are removed, but also case sensitive? Excel has the remove duplicates feature, but isn't case sensitive. For example, if I have: dog doG dog I want a feature where it only removes "dog", but not the one with the upper case. Does Kutools have such feature? Thanks.
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
[quote]Does Kutools have a feature where duplicates from a column are removed, but also case sensitive? Excel has the remove duplicates feature, but isn't case sensitive. For example, if I have: dog doG dog I want a feature where it only removes "dog", but not the one with the upper case. Does Kutools have such feature? Thanks.By Jenna[/quote] Thanks for your feedback. We will try to enhance our feature in upcoming versions. :-)
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
Same with me.....the highlights disappeared when I select any cell on the worksheet
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
Is it possible to identify and permanently highlight the duplicate cells in 2 columns please?
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
Yes, you can. You just need to use this utility to select the duplicates and then please apply colors to highlight them. :)
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
[quote]Yes, you can. You just need to use this utility to select the duplicates and then please apply colors to highlight them. :)By adminjay[/quote] Is there some special trick to selecting those cells that are highlighted? 'select cells by format' perhaps? As soon as I selected one of the duplicates, all of the highlights disappeared.
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
Thanks Jay - that works great. Much appreciated Deesale
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