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Compare Excel Files

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Compare two Excel (xlsx) or CSV files: find changed cells and added or removed rows and columns, match rows by an ID column, download a diff report.

Files are not uploaded · processed in your browser

Original file (A)
or drop files here (files are processed locally, never uploaded).xlsx or .csv, up to 50 MB
Changed file (B)
or drop files here (files are processed locally, never uploaded).xlsx or .csv, up to 50 MB
Row matching
How to match rows

Detects inserted and deleted rows from the row contents. Best when rows were added or removed in the middle of the sheet.

Comparison rules

Formulas are compared by the results saved in the file. Up to 200,000 rows and 200 columns per sheet.

Choose two files, then click "Compare".

How to compare two Excel files

  1. Choose the earlier version under “Original file (A)” and the newer version under “Changed file (B)”. Both .xlsx and .csv are supported.
  2. If a workbook has several sheets, choose the sheet to compare. For B, the sheet with the same name as in A is selected by default.
  3. Choose how to match rows: “Auto-align” in most cases, or “Match by key column” with an ID column when the rows are in a different order.
  4. Click “Compare” to see changed cells and added or removed rows and columns. Download the difference report as Excel or CSV if needed.

Reading positions in the report

  • C12: a cell address, given for both B (changed) and A (original). Row numbers can differ after rows were inserted or deleted.
  • 12:12: a whole row (added or removed). Its contents are shown joined with “ | “.
  • D:D: a whole column (added or removed).

Privacy

Files you choose and text you enter are processed in your browser. They are not uploaded to our servers and we do not store them. Some tools download the code or data they need (such as OCR language data) from this site the first time you use them.

Read the privacy policy

FAQ

Are my files uploaded to a server?

No. Reading and comparing happen entirely in your browser, and your files never leave your device.

If I insert a row in the middle, will every row below it show as changed?

No. The default "Auto-align" mode uses the row contents to detect inserted and deleted rows and keeps the other rows matched, so only cells that actually changed are reported. If the rows have been re-sorted, choose "Match by key column" and pick a column such as ID or employee number.

Does it work if columns were reordered or a new column was added?

Yes. With "First row is a header" checked (the default), columns are matched by header name, regardless of their position. Columns that exist on only one side are listed as added or removed columns. When unchecked, columns are matched by position (A, B, C…).

How are formulas, dates and 1 vs 1.0 compared?

Formulas are compared by the results Excel saved with the file, not by the formula text. Dates are compared as text such as 2024-05-01. With "Compare numbers by value" (on by default), 1, 1.0 and 1.00 are treated as equal, but codes with leading zeros such as 00123 are still compared as text. Formatting, colors and comments are not compared.

Can I compare a CSV file with an Excel file?

Yes. Each side can be .xlsx or .csv. For CSV, the delimiter is detected automatically; UTF-8 and UTF-16 are recognized and on this page any other file is read as Windows-1252. Legacy .xls files and password-protected workbooks need to be saved as .xlsx without a password first.

Are there size or row limits?

Each file can be up to 50 MB, and each sheet up to 200,000 rows, 200 columns and 3 million cells. The page shows up to 500 differences of each type, and the downloadable report contains up to 100,000 differences.

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