Excel

Hi Jamie

Thank you for your question. In Excel 2010 we need to add the feature back to the Ribbon as it's not on display by default.

To do this go to File > Options > Quick Access Toolbar
Change the drop down list from Popular commands to Commands not in the Ribbon.
From the list double click Compare and Merge to add this feature to your Quick Access Toolbar list (left side of the screen).
Click OK.

Next set your workbook to be shared by going to Review > Share workbook and click the checkbox to allow simultaneous editing as this also allows workbook merging.

You can now copy this file for other users to work on. Their edited versions of the document will need renaming as the compare feature requires all files to be in the same folder.

Clicking the button that you added to the Quick Access Toolbar allows you to select the other file(s). You can use the ctrl key when clicking documents to select multiple files. Then click Open

Excel will combine the edits into your main document and mark each edit with a note of the user who made the change and when.

You can find fuller details on the Microsoft website here
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel-help/merge-copies-of-a-shared-workbook-HP010177169.aspx

For documents that are not shared, and are not based on the same file you will need to try alternative methods. You could for example save to CSV and use Word's compare feature (on the Review tab).

Conditional formatting could be used. Create a new conditional format based on a formula using the Countif function. An interesting example can be found here:
http://spreadsheetpage.com/index.php/tip/comparing_two_lists_with_conditional_formatting/

I hope this is helpful. Do let me know if this is useful or if you have further questions.

Kind regards,
Andrew

Hello Jamie,

Hope you enjoyed your Microsoft Excel Advanced course with Best STL.

Thank you for your question regarding comparing two different Excel 2010 files and highlighting the differences.

Microsoft does not provide a tool to highlight differences between two workbooks. You can however, view two files side-by-side from the View ribbon but you will have to manually observe any differences.

I came across a link to a download for an Excel add-in which compares and highlights two workbooks/worksheets. The link is as follows:

http://www.addictivetips.com/windows-tips/compare-two-excel-2010-worksheets/

Please read the information on the website carefully and use caution when downloading files from the internet.

I hope this resolves your question. If it has, please mark this question as resolved.

If you require further assistance, please reply to this post. Or perhaps you have another Microsoft Office question?

Have a great day.
Regards,

Rodney
Microsoft Office Specialist Trainer