Compare spreadsheets

For input and conversion requirements, see [File formats](/docs/file-formats). ## Run a comparison 1. Open MarginDiff Sheets and select **File > New Diff** to start a comparison. 2. Choose the earlier workbook in the comparison dialog's **Original** field. 3. Choose the revised workbook in the **Modified** field. 4. Select **Start**. 5. Select a worksheet and review the aligned grids. Use **F6** to select the Original file and **F7** to select the Modified file. The **Style** selector and adjacent Styles button sit below the file fields. Select **Override** to expand options for this comparison only; clear it to use the selected style. The dialog grows and shrinks with the options panel. **Cancel** and **Clear** are on the lower left; **Switch (F4)** and **Start** are on the lower right. Clear empties both file fields, while Switch swaps them. The default **Side by side** view synchronizes scrolling and selection. Source coordinates remain visible so an aligned row can still be traced back to its location in each workbook. The redline grid uses the Original workbook's row heights and column widths, scaled with zoom. Rows and columns added only in Modified use their modified dimensions. Resizing a row or column in the Original pane also resizes it in the redline pane. The redline grid extends two blank rows below and two blank columns to the right of the comparison's last row and column. Personal application settings are stored in `%APPDATA%\PolywickStudio\DiffySheets\DiffySheets.ini`. Settings from the previous `%APPDATA%\PolywickStudio\DiffySheets.ini` location move automatically when the new file does not already exist. ## Navigate and filter Use **File > Switch (Ctrl+I)** to reverse the comparison inputs. **File > Stop (Ctrl+Q)** cancels the background comparison at the next safe checkpoint. The unfinished result is discarded. Workbook loading and Excel conversion may need to finish before comparison controls become available. **File > Close Diff** (**Ctrl+F4** or **Ctrl+W**) is enabled when at least one MDI comparison is open. Save and Email work with [comparison reports](#comparison-reports). Print opens the worksheet-page preview described below. For appearance, menus and toolbars, see [Customize comparison applications](/docs/integrations/settings/#customize-comparison-applications). The **MarginDiff** menu provides **First Revision (F5)**, **Previous Revision (F6)**, **Next Revision (F7)** and **Last Revision (F8)** for the numbered entries in the Revision List. **Shift+F7** also moves backward. The top Navigation toolbar has the same controls and a current-revision counter. Navigation wraps around the list and opens the corresponding worksheet or workbook-content entry. **MarginDiff > Difference Report** opens the comparison summary. Other MarginDiff commands are disabled where they are not supported. Use **Tools > Styles > Display > Formulas** to choose whether formula differences are highlighted in the grids. This setting is saved with your style set. Value, formatting, and sheet-structure differences remain available without per-sheet filter controls. The aligned grid and underlying comparison results are retained. Sheet structure changes appear in a scrollable list above the grids and in the Revision List. ## Understand values and formulas Stored values and displayed values are different. Two cells can both display `1.23` while storing different numbers. MarginDiff compares the stored values rather than relying only on rounded display text. A single-cell replacement is a modification, including in a one-cell workbook. Case and whitespace remain significant. Formula expressions and cached results are also separate. MarginDiff Sheets does not calculate formulas. To compare current calculated results, recalculate and save both workbooks in Excel before comparing them. ## Row insertions and formula references An inserted row can shift references without changing the intended calculation. The comparison can recognize supported A1 references through the inferred row, column and sheet alignment. For example, when row 2 in Data moves to row 3, these expressions on Summary can refer to equivalent targets: | Original | Modified | | --- | --- | | `=Data!B2+B2` | `=Data!B3+B2` | The first reference belongs to Data; the unqualified `B2` still belongs to Summary. A changed operator, target or cached result can still be reported as a difference. Supported cases include quoted sheet names, escaped apostrophes and qualified A1 ranges. Absolute and mixed references can adjust too: dollar signs do not prevent structural edits from moving the referenced cell. Both original expressions remain available. Matching is inferred from the files; repeated content can make it ambiguous. ## Formatting and structure Selected number-format, font, fill, alignment and border properties participate in comparison. Equivalent defaults and some invisible border/fill properties are normalized to reduce unnecessary differences. Inserting a row or column does not automatically mean that every surviving cell moved. Reordering content can still produce a move. The structure list reports added or removed sheets, sheet order and visibility, merged ranges, row heights, column widths, hidden rows and columns, outline levels, default dimensions and sheet tab colors. Layout changes show the original and modified values. Heights are in points; widths use Excel's column-width units. Corresponding rows and columns are compared after alignment. Explicit layout outside the populated grid is compared at its original coordinate. ## Workbook contents Open the **Workbook contents** tab in the comparison results to inspect changes to charts, drawings, images, relationships, document properties, themes, tables, comments and other saved workbook data. This includes unknown extensions and embedded binary resources, even when no cells have changed. Expand a category and file, then select a change to see its original and modified values. Use the search box to find a file, location, worksheet or value. Double-click a change to open its worksheet when an owning worksheet can be identified. Shared resources may belong to several sheets; navigation opens the first matching sheet. XML changes show their element or attribute locations. Binary changes show the saved size and SHA-256 fingerprint. The headless JSON report includes the same information in `packageChanges`, with a separate count. Content changes can overlap cell and formatting changes, so these counts should not be added together as a count of independent edits. ZIP ordering and compression do not count as content changes. XML attribute order, quotation style, character escaping and CDATA boundaries are normalized. Text whitespace, namespace declarations and relationship identifiers are compared conservatively. A removed and added file with unique, identical content and content type is paired as a rename. Ambiguous matches remain additions and removals; relationship and content-type changes are still shown separately. Relationship identifier changes get an explanation when their target and other attributes are unchanged. Common chart title, series formula, cached data, legend and axis changes have readable labels, as do drawing positions, sizes, crops and rotation. Exact locations and before/after values remain available. Unknown or unusually large XML is compared by its saved bytes when detailed inspection is unavailable. Large change lists include a whole-file fingerprint summary for remaining differences. This compares saved content; it does not establish that two workbooks render or calculate identically in Excel. For converted `.xls` inputs, workbook-content results describe the converted XLSX files. ## Current limits - Sheet renames can appear as a removed sheet and an added sheet. - Merged ranges compare absolute worksheet coordinates. - Do not assume that structured references, whole-axis ranges, external/3-D references, deleted targets or targets beyond observed coordinates can be normalized through row and column alignment. Check such formulas in Excel. - Differing unsupported formulas remain differences. Reordered target axes and ambiguous duplicate content can limit alignment-based equivalence. - Saved conditional-formatting definitions can appear in Workbook contents. Do not infer equivalent displayed results from matching rule definitions or number/date-format text; check the appearance in Excel. - Charts and drawings have content-level change descriptions; a visual overlay and specialized explanations for every chart property are not available. ## Spreadsheet size limits The Sheets adapter limits rectangular cell allocation to **500,000 cells**, including gaps. The comparison has a separate **2,000,000-cell** display budget. Declared array-formula and data-table result ranges count toward the grid limit even when some result cells have no saved value. Workbook-content inspection accepts at most 10,000 package entries, 64 MiB per entry and 256 MiB of uncompressed content. Exceeding these limits stops loading with an error rather than silently omitting content. A sparse workbook with a few distant values can exceed these limits even when its file size is small; the reader's sparse-file capability does not remove the comparison view's allocation limits. Work on a copy and remove unintended distant content, or reduce the comparison to the relevant sheets. Check worksheet coordinates and formulas in Excel if the result is unexpected. ## Small text changes within cells In **Tools > Styles > Difference**, choose **Character Level - Off** (the default) to mark whole changed words, **Character Level - On** to mark individual character edits, or **Character Level - On - ignore numbers** to keep digit sequences together while refining other text. For example, with On, changing `cat` to `cats` highlights only the added `s`. Numeric cells and formulas retain their spreadsheet comparison rules. The choice is saved with the style set. Revision colors, visibility and text decorations follow the active style. Cell text stays on one line unless the source contains a line break. Numeric and formula revisions show old and new values inline. Widen a column to see text that exceeds its width. Source panes retain their original values. Formula and numeric comparisons, and row and column alignment, continue to use spreadsheet comparison rules. In **Tools > Styles > Display**, open any **Background Color** picker and select **No Background** to remove that revision background. Choose a color in the same picker to enable it again. There is no separate checkbox. This choice is saved with your style set. Use the **Difference** tab in **Tools > Styles** for Insert, Delete, and Moves visibility. The **Insert ...** and **Delete ...** buttons open and scroll to their Display settings: Bold, Italic, Text decoration, Font Color, optional Background Color, Prefix, and Suffix. These settings are saved with the style set. The other **...** buttons open their Display settings; **Formatting ...** opens comparison settings. ## Load and save style sets Sheets uses the shared [Styles selector, Manage Styles, and Reset / Save / Tools / Close controls](/docs/integrations/settings/#sheets-and-slides-style-controls). Style sets are stored separately for each product. ## Revision List The Revision List belongs to the workbook comparison window and moves with it when you tile or cascade MDI windows. Closing that comparison also closes its list. Use **MarginDiff > Revision List** to show or hide the list. **Revision List Tab (Ctrl+Shift+D)** shows it and moves keyboard focus to it. Use **MarginDiff > Revision List Position** to place it at the top, bottom, left or right of the comparison window. You can resize the panel by dragging its edge. The first column shows the revision number. The list includes cell, worksheet-structure and workbook-content changes. Selecting a cell change opens its worksheet and scrolls the comparison panes to that cell. Selecting a workbook-content change opens its detailed entry. The Formulas display option applies to grid highlighting; the Revision List and toolbar navigation keep all comparison entries. ## Comparison reports The Revision List starts with **Accepted | No | Zone | Section**, followed by the location and change details. Check **Accepted** to apply a revision; leave it unchecked to retain Original content. Right-click the list for **Accept all** or **Reject all**. Use **File > Save > Merged Redline** to save these decisions to a new `.xlsx` file. Individual cell changes can be combined when row and column alignment is unchanged. Workbook structure, package content, shared/array formulas, dependent named styles and theme changes may require **Accept all**. An unsupported combination is reported without replacing the destination. Accept all saves the complete Modified workbook; Reject all saves the Original workbook. Original and Modified source files cannot be overwritten. Decisions belong to the current comparison and reset when you run a new comparison. Changes cannot be saved if a file inside the workbook lacks content-type information, including with **Accept all** or **Reject all**. The existing destination is preserved. Repair or re-export the source workbook and compare it again. With a comparison open, **File > Save (Ctrl+S)** opens **Save Diff** on the **Redline** tab. Select **Save** and choose a new `.xlsx` filename. The Excel review workbook contains the aligned comparison cells, colored and struck-through/underlined revisions, and a Revision List worksheet. It stores displayed comparison text rather than live formulas and does not reproduce charts or macros. The original and modified workbooks cannot be overwritten by redline Save. For a separate report, use the **Redline Report** tab: choose a filename with **Browse**, select HTML or PDF, and choose whether to include the diff details table. Select **Export** to save the report. The full Revision List is included when details are enabled. **Email (Ctrl+M)** opens **Email Comparison**: choose HTML, PDF, or both and set the attachment filename, then select **Open Outlook**. Add recipients, review the draft and send it yourself. Email requires desktop Outlook on Windows. Cancel closes any of these dialogs without exporting, printing, or opening Outlook. Reports describe the comparison and do not overwrite either workbook. Use **File > Switch (Ctrl+I)** to reverse Original and Modified and recompute the results in the same comparison window. If you stop the comparison, the previous result stays open. Worksheet and summary grids use a white canvas in light and dark themes; revision highlights keep their configured colors. ## Find and Go To Use **MarginDiff > Find (Ctrl+F)** to open the same compact dialog used by Documents. Find searches the comparison cells across worksheets. Previous and Next wrap through matching occurrences. Expand the options for **Match case**, **Regular expression**, and **Highlight search string**; in Sheets, highlighting selects the matching cell. A not-found message appears in the dialog title. Use **MarginDiff > Goto (Ctrl+G)**, or the dialog's mode button, to navigate by **Sheet**, **Row**, or **Column** number. Sheet numbers refer to compared worksheets; row and column numbers refer to the current aligned comparison grid. The dialog stays open so you can continue navigating. Find follows the displayed grid mode. **Text decoration** offers None, Strikethrough, Underline, Double Underline, and Underline and Strikethrough. Double Strikethrough is disabled because Excel does not support it. Double Underline is displayed in the redline and saved as native XLSX double underline. The selection is saved with the style set. ## Show hidden comparison content Open **View > Hidden Content (Comparison)** to reveal content hidden in either source workbook: - **Show Hidden Rows** reveals hidden rows in the comparison panes. - **Show Hidden Columns** reveals hidden columns in the comparison panes. - **Show Hidden Worksheets** shows worksheet tabs hidden in either source, including Excel's Very Hidden worksheets. These tabs have a **[Hidden]** suffix. Rows and columns initially follow the source workbook's visibility. Hidden worksheets are shown by default; clear the worksheet option to hide their tabs. These choices apply to open and new comparisons during the current session and remain active when zooming. Clear a row or column option to restore its source visibility. These are viewing controls: they do not change either source workbook, comparison results, saved reports, or printing. Printed grids continue to omit hidden rows and columns. ## Full-screen comparison For a larger workbook comparison area, choose **View > Full Screen** or press **F11**. See [full-screen controls](/docs/integrations/settings#shared-configuration-files). ## Copy cells and edit in Excel Right-click a workbook pane and choose **Copy to Clipboard** to copy selected cells, or **Select All** to select the displayed grid. **Ctrl+C** also copies. The clipboard contains tab-separated text and an HTML table with redline formatting where available. Choose **Edit Original in Excel**, **Edit Modified in Excel**, or **Edit Redline in Excel** in the corresponding pane. Source actions open that workbook directly. The Redline action saves a separate review workbook and opens it in Excel; the copy remains available after closing the comparison. It has the same formula, chart and macro limitations as the saved redline. Run the comparison again to see changes made in Excel. Microsoft Excel desktop must be installed. ## Comparison packages and JSON In **File > Save > Redline**, choose **Comparison package (.dys)** to save the Original and Modified files, redline, HTML report and JSON revision list together. Open the package from either file picker in **New Comparison** to compare its embedded sources using the selected comparison settings. The saved redline and reports retain the exported review; reopening recomputes the comparison and does not restore acceptance choices. See [report JSON and package contents](/docs/file-formats/#saved-workbook-and-presentation-comparisons) for sharing these results. ## Print worksheet pages **File > Print (Ctrl+P)** previews the redline worksheet grids across the active comparison, including worksheets other than the selected tab. **Print only diff pages** is initially checked: pages with changed cells are included, while unchanged pages are omitted. A worksheet-level structure change includes every page of that worksheet. Clear the checkbox to print all worksheet pages. Use **Page setup** to choose paper size and orientation, then check the preview with the page and zoom buttons. Sheets paginates the comparison grid across columns and rows, preserving its cell formatting, row heights and column widths. Row and column headings repeat on each page. Oversized individual rows or columns are limited to the available page area. Select **Print** to choose a printer. Page ranges refer to the full comparison page numbers in the footers and are combined with the diff-page filter. The selected pages are sent as one job, including with Adobe PDF and Inkwell. The selected printer controls its PDF save destination. This prints the comparison's cell grid rather than Excel's saved print layout: saved print areas, manual page breaks, merged-cell layout, charts, drawings, and Excel headers/footers are not reproduced. Hidden rows and columns are omitted. Workbook-level changes without cells remain available in the **Revision List** and exported comparison reports.