How do I compare two Excel documents?

Posted by arathorn on Super User See other posts from Super User or by arathorn
Published on 2009-08-05T19:03:40Z Indexed on 2012/06/11 22:43 UTC
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microsoft-excel

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microsoft-office

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office-2007

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differences

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comparison

The compare function in Word 2007 is very handy -- is there a similar capability in Excel 2007? I can't seem to find it...

The documents I'm trying to compare are essentially two versions of the same content. Unfortunately, "Track Changes" has not been used.

If file comparison not a built-in feature, what alternatives are out there for doing this?

UPDATE [2009-08-05]:
I ran across this (somewhat dated) overview of some of the third-party options that are available: http://www.comparesuite.com/solutions/compare_utilities_review/compare-files-excel.htm

UPDATE [2009-08-12]:
I ended up going with the Beyond Compare answer, but several of the other answers below were adequate as well, and might be more useful for someone else. (E.g., if you don't own a license for BeyondCompare, or want a comparison GUI that's integrated into Excel.)

See also: How do I diff two spreadsheets on Stack Overflow

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