Compare two columns for matches or differences in the same row This task can be done by using the IF function, as demonstrated in the following examples. When you do data analysis in Excel, one of the most frequent tasks is comparing data in each individual row. How to compare 2 columns in Excel row-by-row In this tutorial, we will explore several techniques to compare two columns in Excel and find matches and differences between them.

Microsoft Excel offers a number of options to compare and match data, but most of them focus on searching in one column.

Comparing columns in Excel is something that we all do once in a while.