Compare Excel Spreadsheets

Question

I would like to compare two excel spreadsheets. I have found many Windows-based solution but nothing for Mac OS X. Are you aware of

a build-in way to perform a diff (didn't find much in the help)
a standalone tool (for Mac)
an online tool (data is not sensitive, comparing in the cloud would be no problem)

At the moment the only solution I got is exporting to a comma separated file and compare with diff on the command line. I was thinking to write a small Perl script but before investing too much time I wanted to be sure I am not missing a simpler option.

Are any of the links on this page any use? http://excel-mac-compare.fyxm.net/ — Clare Macrae, Sep 19 '11 at 06:43
@Clare: although the majority of the tools in the list have Mac in the name they are marked as Windows tools. Even Excel Mac Compare download link results in a Windows executable. — Matteo, Sep 19 '11 at 07:57

score 6 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 17 '11 at 12:33

6

Usually what I would do is copy the Excel spreadsheets into Word, then use Word's Merge Documents feature (might have been Merge/Compare or simply Compare Documents previously to 2011) to see the differences between them. Depending on how big your spreadsheet is, however, that might not work for you.

answered Sep 17 '11 at 12:33

zpletan

2,783

It's not so big, I'll try. – Matteo Sep 17 '11 at 12:53
"copy the Excel spreadsheets into Word" NOooooo jumping off a cliff – Adriano Mar 08 '17 at 11:27
@Adrian https://xkcd.com/763/ – zpletan Mar 08 '17 at 17:31

score 5 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 18 '11 at 21:45

5

There is a Mac version of Araxis Merge, which is an excellent program for comparing and merging mange kinds of files, and folders of files.

Its History page seems to suggest that it does compare Excel files on Mac.

There's a 30 day evaluation, so you could try it out and see if it does what you need.

(I have no affiliation with the company - am just a very frequent user of the Windows version of the tool)

answered Sep 18 '11 at 21:45

Clare Macrae

1,220

2

Thanks for the hint. I tried the results I get are too similar to a comparison of the CSV versions which I can get for free. For 99 EUR I was expecting something more. – Matteo Sep 19 '11 at 06:37
This is for Windows only. – pinus.acer May 14 '20 at 15:35
@pinus.acer There really is a Mac version - I linked to it in the History link in my answer :-) it's here: https://www.araxis.com/merge/documentation-os-x/release-notes – Clare Macrae May 14 '20 at 16:54
1

@ClareMacrae thanks and sorry! My bad! – pinus.acer May 17 '20 at 11:27

score 2 · Answer 3 · edited Apr 16 '18 at 21:56

2

You might want to try this tool. It does the job and it's free. http://www.nunobrum.com/excelcomparator.html

It works in Windows and on MAC OSX. It's based on a VBA macro running in the native Excel Application, so it doesn't need any installations. Only suffice to enable the Macros and it works. Contrary to other Excel comparators, this one also enables you to compare different sheets of the same workbook or, different ranges of the same sheet. Compares Values or Formulas. This tool annotates the differences directly on the sheets you are comparing, and offers the possibility of navigating through the differences on the Report sheet.

Note: the author of this answer is also the author of this donationware software.

edited Apr 16 '18 at 21:56

mph

154

answered May 23 '17 at 19:45

Nuno Brum

35

5

Welcome to Ask Different! Even though it's quite obvious from the domain name, you have to state explicitly that it's your own site you're linking to. See How not to be a spammer. – Glorfindel May 23 '17 at 19:46
I don't think this answer should be penalized so heavily just because of the self-promotion. His software is donationware, vs. the fully commercial options offered in other answers. – mph Apr 16 '18 at 21:51
Additionally, I just used it to compare two 46MB workbooks with a couple dozen sheets apiece, and it did an amazing job. The only thing is it doesn't seem to account for insertions, so if one additional row appears in the middle of spreadsheet B when comparing to A, every row after that is considered different. But this seems to be the only tool capable of comparing multi-sheet workbooks. – mph Apr 16 '18 at 22:28

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Apr 15 '18 at 23:25

0

You can compare 2 Excel sheets with highlighting the differences (update, new, removed) cells and rows without using any formula using Dose for Excel Add-In:

https://www.zbrainsoft.com/Compare-Sheets.html

answered Apr 15 '18 at 23:25

Ralf Swang

1

Compare Excel Spreadsheets

4 Answers4