how do I find differences between two open excel files

[Guest]

I'm trying to determine the differences and changes made between two
different files to capture that the correct changes were processed

 

[Dave Peterson]

It depends on what you're looking for.

This may help if you want to compare two worksheets and do a cell by cell
comparison (A1 with A1, x99 with x99, ...)

http://www.cpearson.com/excel/whatsnew.aspx
look for compare.xla

 

[Dave O]

Much of this depends on how the data is laid out, whether the data is
in the same order, etc. Are the files essentially the same number of
columns and rows, but one is more up-to-date than the other? The
answers to these questions determine how to proceed.

DaveO
Eschew Obfuscation

 

[Ian]

I think I can offer a partial solution. You can identify what cells have
changed or, if numeric how much the change is.

Your original files are file1 & file2. Create a new file (file3).
If all the values are numeric:
In file3 A1 subtract file1 A1 from file2 A1.
Go to Tools > Options > View tab and uncheck Zero values.
If the cells are not numeric:
In file3 A1 =(IF(file1 A1=file2 A1),"","Changed")

In each case the changed cells will be obvious, either with Changed or the
difference between the values.

This will only work if the changes have not altered the layout of the sheet
(ie not inserted or removed cells).

Ian