Compare Excel files and see exactly which cells changed
Someone sends back “the updated sheet” and you need to know what they touched. This tool lets you compare Excel files — two versions of a price list, budget, roster or inventory — and shows every changed cell with its old and new value, plus the rows and columns that were added or removed. It reads .xlsx, .xls, .xlsm, .xlsb, LibreOffice .ods and CSV or TSV, and you can mix formats, say last month’s CSV export against this month’s workbook.
Unlike a text diff, which loses track as soon as a row is inserted, it matches rows by a key column such as an ID, SKU or invoice number, so a moved row is still compared with its own counterpart and only a genuinely new row counts as added. Columns are matched by header name.
Both files are parsed and compared by JavaScript in your browser (SheetJS, Apache-2.0, for the workbook formats). Nothing is uploaded, which matters when the sheets hold salaries, customers or prices.
How to compare two Excel files
- Drop the old version on Original (old) file and the new one on Changed (new) file, or click either box to pick a file. A sample pair is loaded so you can see the result first.
- If a workbook has several sheets, choose the sheet under each file. When both files have sheets with the same names, a summary lists each sheet with its number of changes; press Show to open one.
- Keep Match rows on “By a key column” and check the Key column — the first column with unique values is picked for you. Use “By position” for sheets without an ID, such as a form or a budget grid.
- Tick what to ignore: extra spaces, letter case, and number formatting so that
1,500.00in one file equals1500in the other. - Read the result: the big number counts changed cells; the table shows each change as
old→ new, green rows were added, red rows removed. Switch Show to “All rows” for the full merged view. - Download the change list (CSV), the Excel report (change list, side-by-side grid and summary) or Copy summary for an e-mail.
Compare Excel Files features
Cell-level diff
Each cell is compared with the matching cell in the other file, so you see “Price: 45 → 49”, not two whole lines that differ somewhere.
Rows matched by an ID
Choose any column as the key. Rows that were sorted or pushed down by inserts are still paired correctly; duplicate keys are paired in order of appearance.
Added and removed rows and columns
Rows present in only one file are listed in place as added or removed; columns are matched by header name, so a new column is flagged rather than shifting the comparison.
Works across formats
Compare an .xlsx with a .csv or an .ods with an .xls. Dates are compared as the text each file shows; numbers can be compared by value.
Multi-sheet summary
When both workbooks have several sheets, every sheet with the same name is compared at once and listed with its change count.
Reports you can send
A CSV change list with the cell address in both files, an Excel report with the merged grid, and a plain-text summary for the clipboard.
Key column or position: which to use
The matching mode decides what “the same row” means, and it changes the result a lot. In the sample pair, matching by SKU reports 3 changed cells, one added and one removed row. Matching by position reports 12 changed cells, because removing product A-105 shifts every row below it up by one.
| Your sheets | Use | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A list with an ID, code, e-mail or invoice number | By a key column | Rows can be sorted or inserted without false differences. |
| The same layout filled in twice (a form, a budget grid) | By position | Cell B7 means the same thing in both files. |
| No unique column, but a stable order | By position | Turn “The first row is a header” off if row 1 is data. |
| Several columns together form the key | By a key column | Add a helper column that joins them (=A2&"-"&B2) in both files and pick it as the key. |
What counts as a change
- Values are compared as the text each file displays, after the options you tick: spaces collapsed, case folded, and numbers compared by value so
₹1,30,000,130000and130,000.00are equal. Turn “Number format” off to catch formatting changes too. - Formulas are compared by their last calculated value; the formula text is not compared and nothing is recalculated.
- Date cells are shown in the cell’s own format (for example
15/01/2026) and compared as that text. A date typed as text in a CSV matches when it reads the same. - Colours, fonts, borders, comments, merged ranges and column widths are not compared. Blank rows are skipped; a cell that is empty in one file and filled in the other is shown as empty → value.
Reading the change list
The CSV and Excel reports list one line per difference: the row key (or row number), the column name, the cell address in the old and in the new file, both values and the kind of change — changed, row added, row removed, column added or column removed. Files up to 60 MB each are accepted; the table shows the first 300 differing rows, the downloads all of them. For text use the Diff Checker, for structured data the JSON Diff, and the Pivot Table Maker to summarise what changed.
Compare Excel Files FAQ
How do I compare two Excel files for differences?
Drop the older file on the left and the newer one on the right, pick the key column (an ID or SKU), and read the table: every changed cell shows the old value struck through and the new value in bold, with added and removed rows in green and red.
Can I compare an Excel file with a CSV file?
Yes. Any mix of .xlsx, .xls, .xlsm, .xlsb, .ods, .csv and .tsv works. Keep “Number format” ticked so numbers stored as text in the CSV still equal the numbers in the workbook.
Why does it report many changes when only one row was deleted?
You are matching rows by position, so every row below the deleted one has moved up. Switch “Match rows” to “By a key column” and choose a column with unique values; then only the deleted row is reported as removed.
Are my files uploaded anywhere?
No. The files are read and compared in your browser; nothing leaves your device.