The problem
Why the usual workflow gets in the way.
You have two versions of the same list in Excel, such as members, customers, products, or orders, and you need to know which rows are no longer there. Someone also sorted the new file differently, so the rows no longer line up, and checking one name at a time is slow and easy to get wrong.
The solution
How Diff Anything handles it.
Diff Anything opens both Excel files on your Mac and shows the sheet with every removed, added, and changed row highlighted. Choose the column that identifies each row, such as a member number or an order ID, under Match rows by. Each row is then matched with the row that has the same value there, wherever it is, so a new sort order no longer counts, and the rows that are missing show as removed.
01 / Matching rows
Why the default comparison can hide a missing row
At first, Diff Anything matches rows by their content. That keeps an inserted row from shifting everything below it, but when one person left a list and another joined, the two rows can be paired as one changed row. The missing row is then easy to miss.
When every row has an ID, matching by that column gives the exact answer: a row whose ID is only in the older file is removed, a row whose ID is only in the newer file is added, and a row with the same ID but different cells is changed.
02 / Matching rows
Choose the ID column under Match rows by
Match rows by, above the table, lists the columns of the sheet by their header names. Choose one, and rows with the same value in that column are compared wherever they are, so sorting a sheet differently is not a difference.
When one column is not enough to identify a row, type several under Key columns, as header names or column letters separated by commas. If an ID appears more than once in one file, Diff Anything shows a warning and matches those rows in order.
03 / Matching rows
Read the result
The summary above the table counts the added, removed, and changed rows. Removed rows are the ones missing from the newer file; changed rows show the old value crossed out next to the new one.
The list on the right names every difference by its sheet and row. Click one, and the table scrolls to that row.
04 / Matching rows
What is compared
Diff Anything compares the cell values of Excel (XLS, XLSX, XLSM, XLSB), OpenDocument (ODS), and Numbers spreadsheets. Formulas are compared too when both files use the same format, such as two XLSX files. Formatting, charts, macros, and layout are not compared.
Sheets are matched by name, and the column you match by is chosen for each sheet.
05 / Matching rows
Your files stay on your Mac
Both spreadsheets are read and compared on your Mac. Diff Anything has no account, cloud comparison service, analytics, or telemetry, and no AI is involved.