DATA QUALITY

Compare Two Lists

Check whether values from one list exist in another list.

After this lessonFind missing and extra IDs with lookup logic.

How it works

List comparison is a common reconciliation task. COUNTIF can tell you whether a key appears at least once in another list, while XLOOKUP can return related details.

When you need changed fields, duplicate control and exportable results across large files, use the dedicated Excel & CSV Reconcile tool instead.

REAL WORK

Compare planned vs scanned items, master-data extracts or old vs new inventory snapshots.

SYNTAX

The pattern

=IF(COUNTIF(other_list,A2)>0,"FOUND","MISSING")

Example

=IF(COUNTIF(A2:A6,"SKU-104")>0,"FOUND","MISSING")

TRY IT

Test the formula

The sample sheet is local to this page. Change the formula and see the result immediately.

Result

QUICK CHECK

Which result means COUNTIF found no matches?

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