Spreadsheet Compare alternatives that work without Windows Office (2026)
Microsoft's Spreadsheet Compare only runs in Excel for Windows, with Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise or equivalent editions (older docs list Office Professional Plus 2013, 2016 and 2019). Without it, the options are: lookup formulas or Power Query in your own Excel, a desktop diff program such as Beyond Compare or xlCompare, a command-line library such as daff, or a browser tool. The choice depends on your system, on whether rows must be matched on a key column, and on how often you compare.
What Spreadsheet Compare does, and who has it
According to Microsoft, Spreadsheet Compare is "available only in Excel for Windows in Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise plans and equivalent editions" and is started from the Inquire tab, Compare Files (Microsoft: compare two versions of a workbook). The basic tasks page lists Office Professional Plus 2013, 2016, 2019 and Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise. Results are shown in a two-pane grid, old file left, new file right, with changes highlighted by colour, and can be exported with Home > Export Results.
So it is not available on a Mac or in Excel for the web, and not in every Microsoft 365 plan.
Alternatives compared
| Option | Runs on | Matches rows on a key column | Needs | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| XLOOKUP formulas | Excel for Windows and Mac (2021, 2024, Microsoft 365) | yes, one lookup per column | building the formulas | XLOOKUP reference |
| Power Query merge | Excel for Windows; Excel for Microsoft 365 for Mac | yes (anti joins give added/removed) | query setup per file pair | Merge queries |
| Beyond Compare (Table Compare) | Windows, macOS, Linux | yes, columns can be marked as key | paid licence; Excel files are converted "using the copy of Excel on your machine" | Scooter Software |
| xlCompare | Windows | yes, including composite keys | paid licence after trial | described as "a portable desktop Windows application" on xlcompare.com |
| daff | anywhere with Node, Python or Ruby | yes, --id column, repeatable | command line | MIT licence, github.com/paulfitz/daff |
| Browser tool | any browser | yes, single or composite key | nothing to install | see below |
How to choose
- You compare the same two files every month: a Power Query merge saved in a workbook, refreshed each time.
- You compare text and folders too, on Windows, Mac or Linux: Beyond Compare covers files, folders and tables in one program.
- You are a developer or automate in scripts: daff produces a diff and a patch from the command line.
- You need an answer now, on a Mac, once in a while: a browser tool, without installing anything.
The browser option
The spreadsheet comparison tool reads XLSX, XLS and CSV files in the browser (nothing is uploaded), proposes the key column, matches columns by name ignoring case, accents and spaces, and lists added, removed and changed rows with the old and new value of each cell and the % difference for numbers. Duplicate keys are listed with their row numbers. The Excel report has a summary, one sheet per status and one line per changed cell. It is free for files up to 200 rows; above that the full preview is free and the report costs $4.99 for 24 hours of access.
What it does not do: compare formulas, macros, cell formatting or VBA, which Spreadsheet Compare does. It compares values.
FAQ
Is Spreadsheet Compare included in my Microsoft 365 plan? Microsoft names Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise "and equivalent editions". If you cannot enable the Inquire add-in in Excel for Windows, your plan does not include it.
Can Excel for the web compare two files? Spreadsheet Compare is not available there: Microsoft lists it for Excel for Windows only. Lookup formulas and Power Query (in desktop Excel) remain.
Does Google Sheets have a compare feature? Not as a single command. Google Sheets has XLOOKUP and VLOOKUP, so the lookup method works the same way as in Excel.
Which option compares formulas and not only values? Spreadsheet Compare lets you choose categories such as Formulas, Macros and Cell Format (basic tasks). Key-based tools such as daff, Table Compare or the browser tool above compare the values the cells contain.