How to compare two sets of data in WPS Office Excel

In this article, you will know how to compare two sets of data in WPS Office Excel with simple steps as following:

In our daily work, we often need to compare two sets of data, but it makes us dizzy to switch back and forth. So how can we compare two sets of data quickly and easily?

Let's have a try step by step.

Here we take a performance appraisal table of employees as an example. We want to know how they performed and whether they made progress in these two months.

We can use the Conditional Formatting function to highlight the values quickly according to the rules we set for more convenient comparison. We are provided with multiple options, and in this example, we choose Highlight Cells Rules.

· Compare two sets of data for duplicates

The Equal to feature can help to find the duplicates from two sets of data.

1. Select the cell range to highlight. Head to the Home tab > Conditional Formatting > Highlight Cells Rules > Equal to.

2. Input the cell range to compare with, and here we input “=$C2”.

Tips: “$” means absolute reference. “$C2” means to reference Column C and the rows corresponding to the source cells.

Similarly, “$C$2” means to reference cell C2, and “C$2” references Row 2 and the column corresponding to the source cells.

3. Choose a desired format from the drop-down menu, or click Custom Format to customize it. Here we take Custom Format as an example.

4. Then click OK, and the values in February column that are equal to those in January column are highlighted in the custom format so that we can know these employees performed the same in both months.

· Compare two sets of data for differences

The Greater Than or Less Than feature can help to compare these two sets of data for differences. Here we take Greater Than as an example.

1. Select the cell range to highlight. Head to the Home tab > Conditional Formatting > Highlight Cells Rules >  Greater Than.

2. Input the cell range to compare with, and here we input “=$C2”.

Tips: “$” means absolute reference. “$C2” means to reference Column C and the rows corresponding to the source cells.

Similarly, “$C$2” means to reference cell C2, and “C$2” references Row 2 and the column corresponding to the source cells.

3. Choose a desired format from the drop-down menu, or click Custom Format to customize it. Here we take Custom Format as an example.

4. Then the values in February column that are greater than those in January column are highlighted in the custom format so that we can know these employees made progress in February.

With these steps, you are able to compare two sets of data quickly and freely. Did you get it?

· Terms Explanation

What is WPS Spreadsheet?

WPS Spreadsheet is a module of WPS Office(an acronym for Writer, Presentation and Spreadsheet). WPS Spreadsheet is consistent with Excel document, which helps users to work with high efficiency. Its personal basic version is free to use and it also provides abundant functions and unique features for you to explore.

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Using WPS Office to create, edit and share Word, PPT, Excel and PDF. WPS Office Academy covers each step by giving free tutorials with details. Step by step, an office beginner becomes a pro. Versions are available for PCs including Mac, Windows, Linux, etc. Mobile versions includes iOS and Android.