Excel EXACT Function
Summary
The Excel EXACT function compares two text strings, taking into account upper and lower case characters, and returns TRUE if they are the same, and FALSE if not. EXACT is case-sensitive.
Purpose
Compare two text strings
Return value
A boolean value (TRUE or FALSE)
Syntax
=EXACT (text1, text2)
Arguments
- text1 - The first text string to compare.
- text2 - The second text string to compare.
Usage notes
The EXACT function compares two text strings in a case-sensitive manner. If the two strings are exactly the same, EXACT returns TRUE. If the two strings are not the same (taking into account upper and lower case) EXACT returns FALSE.
Examples
Below are two examples of the EXACT function used with hardcoded strings. In the first example, the strings are identical, in the second example, the only difference is the capital "A":
In the example shown, the formula in D6, copied down the column, is:
=EXACT(B6,C6)
You can also use a normal equals sign (=) in a formula, but the comparison is not case sensitive:
=("Apple"="apple") // returns TRUE
EXACT formula examples
Case sensitive lookups in Excel
By default, standard lookups in Excel are not case-sensitive. Both VLOOKUP and INDEX/MATCH will simply return the first match, ignoring case.
A direct way to workaround this limitation...
To allow a user to enter only uppercase TEXT, you can use data validation with a custom formula based on the UPPER, EXACT, and AND functions.
In the example shown, the data validation applied to C5:C7 is:
=AND(EXACT...
To perform a case sensitive match, you can use the EXACT function together with MATCH in an array formula. In the example show, the formula in E8 is:
{=MATCH(TRUE,EXACT(B5:B11,E6),0)}
Note: this is an array formula...
To allow only values that begin with certain text, you can use data validation with a custom formula based on the EXACT and LEFT functions.
In the example shown, the data validation applied to C5:C9 is:
=EXACT(LEFT(...
Case-sensitive lookup
By default, standard lookups with VLOOKUP or INDEX + MATCH aren't case-sensitive. Both VLOOKUP and MATCH will simply return the first match, ignoring case.
However, if you need to do a case-...
If you need to compare two text strings in Excel to determine if they're equal, you can use the EXACT function. For example, if you want to compare A2 with B2, use:
=EXACT(A2,B2)
If the two strings are identical,...
To verify that multiple cells have the same value with a case-sensitive formula, you can use a simple array formula based on the EXACT and AND functions. In the example shown, the formula in G5 is:
=AND(EXACT(B5:F5,B5...
To confirm two ranges of the same size contain the same values, you can use a simple array formula based on the AND function. In the example shown, the formula in C9 is:
{=AND(B5:D12=F5:H12)}
Note: this is an array...
Note: Excel contains many built-in "presets" for highlighting values with conditional formatting, including a preset to highlight cells that contain a specific value. However, if you want more flexibility, you can use...
If you want to highlight the differences between two columns of data with conditional formatting you can do so with a simple formula that uses the" not equal to" operator (e.g. ) and mixed references.
For example, if...
To count cells that contain specific text, taking into account upper and lower case, you can use a formula based on the EXACT function together with the SUMPRODUCT function. In the example shown, E5 contains this...
To match text longer than 255 characters with the MATCH function, you can use the LEFT, MID, and EXACT functions to parse and compare text, as explained below. In the example shown, the formula in G5 is:
=MATCH(1,...
Note: Excel contains many built-in rules for highlighting values with conditional formatting, including a rule to highlight cells that end with specific text. However, if you want more flexibility, you can use your own...
To build a case-sensitive exact match, you can use the XLOOKUP function with the EXACT function. In the example shown, the formula in F5 is:
=XLOOKUP(1,--EXACT(B5:B15,"RED"),B5:D15)
which matches on "RED" (...
