COLUMN HARBOR - TWO-LIST COMPARISON https://csv.jhsoftlabs.com/guides/excel-compare-two-lists Synthetic text IDs; case-insensitive, spaces preserved. Import list-a.csv into A1 and list-b.csv into D1. Default formulas: Excel 2016+. FILTER: Excel 2021/2024 or Microsoft 365. Enter in B2, then fill through B8 =IF(A2="","Skip blank",IF(SUMPRODUCT(--($D$2:$D$7=A2))=0,"Only in A","In both")) Enter in E2, then fill through E7 =IF(D2="","Skip blank",IF(SUMPRODUCT(--($A$2:$A$8=D2))=0,"Only in B","In both")) Occurrence audit for H2 = A102 I2: =SUMPRODUCT(--($A$2:$A$8=H2)) J2: =SUMPRODUCT(--($D$2:$D$7=H2)) K2: =I2-J2 Expected: count_A = 2, count_B = 1, A_minus_B = 1 Case-sensitive alternative for B2 =IF(A2="","Skip blank",IF(SUMPRODUCT(--EXACT(A2,$D$2:$D$7))=0,"Only in A","In both")) Two independent formatting rules; do not paste into worksheet cells Applies to: =$A$2:$A$8 Formula: =$B2="Only in A" Applies to: =$D$2:$D$7 Formula: =$E2="Only in B" Extract from the same-sheet sample; Microsoft 365 / Excel 2021 / 2024 M2: =FILTER(A2:A8,B2:B8="Only in A","No missing IDs") O2: =FILTER(D2:D7,E2:E7="Only in B","No missing IDs") Q2: =FILTER(A2:A8,B2:B8="In both","No matches") Alternative two-sheet layout in the same workbook Previous!B2, fill to B8: =IF(A2="","Skip blank",IF(SUMPRODUCT(--(Current!$A$2:$A$7=A2))=0,"Only in Previous","In both")) Current!B2, fill to B7: =IF(A2="","Skip blank",IF(SUMPRODUCT(--(Previous!$A$2:$A$8=A2))=0,"Only in Current","In both")) Expected results are provided separately as CSV; this file is a formula reference, not an executable workbook.