17

As file conflicts can easily occur in the new and shiny world of SharePoint/OneDrive-based Excel 365 it is important to be able to compare different versions of a file.

All info I found online talks about older versions of Excel.

How can I compare two Excel files in Excel 365? I need to see a useable overview of all their differences, ideally with a way to merge them.

thims
  • 9,361
bugmenot123
  • 274

3 Answers3

12

You may compare two Excel spreadsheets using the ribbon entry Inquire > Compare Files. You need to have two workbooks open in Excel to run this command.

For more information about the command, see the Microsoft article
What you can do with Spreadsheet Inquire.

The Inquire pane is not enabled by default in Excel.

To enable Inquire:

  • Enter File > Options > Add ins
  • Set "Manage" to "COM Add-ins"
  • Click Go
  • Place a check-mark next to "Inquire"
  • Click OK.
harrymc
  • 498,455
4

The steps shown here are wrong - there is no Inquire option in 365! Enter File > Options > Add ins Set "Manage" to "COM Add-ins" Click Go Place a check-mark next to "Inquire" Click OK.

user1733091
  • 49
0

I didn't have access to the Inquire option, but on my (presumably, Enterprise level) laptop with Office 365 I could access Spreadsheet Compare via the search box. Click magnifying glass bottom left of screen, type 'spreadsheet compare', pin the Spreadsheet Compare program to your taskbar (right-click). It's a really useful, albeit dated-looking, app - is saving me and some colleagues a lot of time when we want to know what has changed between similar spreadsheets. Also great for tracking and synching changes to complex workbooks - even tracks VBA changes! Click 'Show Details'.

Geoff Kendall
  • 301