How to compare two Excel files and see every difference

You have two versions of the same workbook — budget_v3.xlsx and budget_v3_FINAL.xlsx — and no idea what changed between them. Excel doesn't help much here. There's no built-in diff view, and Microsoft's Spreadsheet Compare tool only ships with certain Office editions on Windows. You end up eyeballing the two files in split windows or writing IF(A1<>Sheet2!A1, ...) formulas by hand.

Maplesheet's compare tool does this in one step. Drop in both files, click Compare, and every difference is listed and highlighted: changed values, formulas, styles, number formats, data validations, protection, and conditional formatting rules.

How to use it

1. Open the tool and drop both files in

Head to maplesheet.com/compare and drag your two .xlsx or .csv files onto the page. Both workbooks open side by side in the in-browser viewer, so you can scroll through them before comparing.

2. Pick what to compare

By default the tool compares the whole workbook, matching sheets by name. If you want to narrow it down, switch the scope:

• Whole workbook: every sheet in both files, paired by sheet name.
• Sheet: pick one sheet from each file — useful when the sheet was renamed between versions.
• Table: compare one Excel table from each file.
• Range: compare a specific block of cells (like B2:F200) from each file, even if the data sits in different places.

If the two files don't have the same number of sheets, the tool flags that too.

3. Click Compare

Press Compare. The differences come back grouped by category, so you can focus on what matters and ignore the rest:

• Values: cells whose content changed.
• Formulas: cells where the formula itself changed, shown with the old and new formula side by side.
• Styles: font, fill, and border changes.
• Formatting: number format and alignment changes.
• Data validation: dropdown lists and input rules that changed.
• Protection: locked/hidden cell changes.
• Conditional formatting: rules that were added, removed, or edited, field by field.

Each entry shows the cell address, so you can jump straight to it in the viewer.

4. Review the highlighted diff view

For value changes, Maplesheet also builds a merged diff view of the whole workbook:

• Yellow cells changed, shown as old → new.
• Green cells exist only in the second file (added).
• Red cells exist only in the first file (removed), with ∅ marking the empty side.

You can switch back to the side-by-side view at any time.

5. Download the diff

Click Download to save the highlighted diff as its own .xlsx file — handy for sending to a colleague as a change report, or keeping as an audit trail of what changed between versions.

What makes it different from doing it by hand

Tips

• Sheets renamed between versions? Use the Sheet scope and pick the matching sheets from each file manually — otherwise sheets are paired by name.
• Data moved to a different place? Use the Range scope and select the block in each file. The ranges are compared cell-by-cell, so they don't have to be at the same address.
• Only care about the numbers? Skip the style and formatting sections and read only the Values and Formulas groups.

FAQ

Does it work with .csv files? Yes. You can compare two .csv files, or mix a .csv against an .xlsx.

Is there a file size limit? Yes, each file can be up to 2 MB for comparison.

Does it detect formatting-only changes? Yes. Cells with identical values but different fonts, fills, borders, number formats, or alignment show up under Styles and Formatting.

Are my files changed? No. Comparison is read-only — your original files stay untouched. The only file written is the optional diff report you download.