To compare two lists, paste each list one item per line and match them as sets: items only in the first list, only in the second, and in both. Paste yours below and the differences, matches, and unique items appear instantly, ignoring case and extra spaces.
No login, no AI. Everything runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded or stored on our servers.
Results update as you type and autosave on this device.
Drop a file on the box or choose one. Read on this device only.
Drop a file on the box or choose one. Read on this device only.
Excel .xlsx files are not supported: copy the column from Excel or Google Sheets and paste it.
The intersection, shown with List A's spelling.
Every distinct item from either list.
Items that appear more than once in the same list, counted before duplicates are removed.
CSV export prefixes cells that start with =, +, -, @ or a tab with an apostrophe so spreadsheets do not run them as formulas. Share links keep the lists in the URL after the #, which is never sent to our server; links are limited to about 6,000 characters.
Enter where your lists live and copy a ready-made formula. Defaults assume List A in A2:A100 and List B in B2:B100.
Excel and Google Sheets
=IF(COUNTIF($B$2:$B$100,A2)>0,"In both","Only in A")Where: Put in the first empty column next to A2, then fill down to row 100.
COUNTIF counts how often the item appears in List B. More than zero means it is in both lists.
Excel and Google Sheets
=IF(COUNTIF($A$2:$A$100,B2)>0,"In both","Only in B")Where: Put in the first empty column next to B2, then fill down to row 100.
The same check the other way round, so you can see what List B has that List A does not.
Excel
=IF(ISNUMBER(MATCH(A2,$B$2:$B$100,0)),"In both","Only in A")Where: Put next to A2, then fill down to row 100.
MATCH with 0 finds the item's position in List B or returns #N/A; ISNUMBER turns that into TRUE or FALSE.
Excel 365, 2021 and 2024 (not Excel 2016 or 2019)
=XLOOKUP(A2,$B$2:$B$100,$B$2:$B$100,"Only in A")Where: Put next to A2, then fill down to row 100.
XLOOKUP does an exact match by default and returns the List B value, or the if_not_found text when there is no match.
Excel 365, 2021 and 2024
=FILTER($A$2:$A$100,(COUNTIF($B$2:$B$100,$A$2:$A$100)=0)*($A$2:$A$100<>""),"None")Where: Put in one empty cell; the results spill down.
Keeps List A rows whose COUNTIF in List B is zero and that are not blank. "None" shows when every item matches.
Google Sheets
=FILTER($A$2:$A$100,COUNTIF($B$2:$B$100,$A$2:$A$100)=0,$A$2:$A$100<>"")Where: Put in one empty cell; the results spill down.
In Google Sheets each extra FILTER argument is another condition, so the not-blank check is a separate argument. Returns #N/A when nothing is left.
Excel (desktop and web)
=COUNTIF($B$2:$B$100,$A2)=0Where: Select A2:A100, then Home > Conditional Formatting > New Rule > "Use a formula to determine which cells to format".
The row number has no $, so Excel adjusts it for each cell in the selection. Pick a fill color and every List A item missing from List B lights up.
Spreadsheet matching ignores case. In COUNTIF, *, ? and ~ inside an item act as wildcards, and items longer than 255 characters give wrong results, so use this tool for those lists. Sources: COUNTIF, XLOOKUP, FILTER (Microsoft Support) and Google Sheets FILTER.
Five steps, from paste to download.
Paste the first list into List A, one item per line, or drop a .txt, .csv or .tsv file.
Paste the second list into List B. A column copied from Excel or Google Sheets works as is.
Keep case-insensitive matching and trimming on, or ignore punctuation, collapse spaces, sort, or turn on fuzzy matching.
See what is only in List A, only in List B, in both, and the combined unique list, plus near matches and duplicates.
Copy any result, download it as .txt, or download everything as one CSV with an item and status column.
Fuzzy matching uses the Levenshtein distance (NIST). A to Z sorting is natural, so "Item 2" comes before "Item 10".
Paste the first list into List A and the second into List B, one item per line. The tool instantly shows what is only in List A, only in List B, in both lists, and the combined unique list, and you can copy or download each result. Matching ignores case and extra spaces by default.
Put List A in column A and List B in column B, then enter =IF(COUNTIF($B$2:$B$100,A2)>0,"In both","Only in A") in C2 and fill it down. COUNTIF counts how often each item appears in List B and is not case sensitive. In Excel 365, 2021 or 2024, =FILTER($A$2:$A$100,(COUNTIF($B$2:$B$100,$A$2:$A$100)=0)*($A$2:$A$100<>""),"None") lists every item only in A. The Excel helper on this page writes these formulas for your columns and rows.
Paste both lists and read the In both panel: it is the intersection, every item that appears in List A and List B. In a spreadsheet, a COUNTIF of the other list greater than zero marks an item as in both.
Yes. Case-insensitive matching and trimming of leading and trailing spaces are on by default, so "Ben.Lee@example.com " matches "ben.lee@example.com". You can also collapse repeated spaces inside items and ignore punctuation and accents, so "José" matches "jose". Results keep the first original spelling.
Fuzzy matching pairs items that are similar but not identical, such as "Jon Smith" and "John Smith". This tool scores each pair with the Levenshtein distance, the smallest number of single-character insertions, deletions, and substitutions needed to turn one into the other, as 1 minus the distance divided by the longer item's length. Pairs at or above your threshold (85% by default) appear as near matches.
Yes. The comparison runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you paste or drop is uploaded or stored on our servers, there is no login, and no AI or API is called. Lists autosave only in this browser's local storage, and a share link keeps the data after the # in the URL, which browsers do not send to the server.
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