EXACT function

Excel EXACT Function allows you to compare two text strings to check if they are exactly the same.

Syntax

EXACT(text1, text2)

Arguments

text1	The first text string you want to compare.
text2	The second text string you want to compare.

How to use

The EXACT function is a simple yet powerful tool for comparing two text strings. Here’s how to use it:

Let’s assume you have two text strings, “apple” and “apple,” and you want to check if they are identical. You can use the EXACT function like this:

This formula will return TRUE because both text strings are exactly the same.

Now, let’s say you want to compare “apple” with “orange” using the EXACT function:

This time, the formula will return FALSE because the two text strings are not identical.

One thing to keep in mind is that the EXACT function is case-sensitive. So, if you compare “apple” with “Apple,” it will return FALSE because the capitalization is different.

You can also use the EXACT function in more complex formulas and combine it with other functions to perform tasks like conditional formatting, data validation, or filtering data based on exact matches.

For example, you can use it in an IF function to create a condition that checks if two cells in Excel are exactly the same:

This formula will display “Match” if the content of cell A1 is exactly the same as the content of cell B1; otherwise, it will display “No Match.”

So, the EXACT function is a handy tool when you need to ensure that your data matches precisely, and it’s especially useful when dealing with textual data in Excel.

Additional Information

The EXACT function is case-sensitive, meaning it considers uppercase and lowercase letters as different characters. So, “apple” and “Apple” are not considered the same by the EXACT function.