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Text function

EXACT

Tests whether two strings are identical, case-sensitively.

CommonDifficulty 1000 · CapableUsage rank #134 of 520
Practice · 3 questions →

When to use it

Compares two texts case sensitively and returns TRUE only for an exact match. The = operator ignores case.

The shape of it

Syntax
=EXACT(text1, text2)

Worked examples

  • Case matters

    =EXACT("Excel","excel") → FALSE

    Case differs.

  • Compare cells

    =EXACT(A2,B2) → TRUE

    Two cells that match character for character.

  • Case-sensitive count

    =SUMPRODUCT(--EXACT(A2:A10,"West")) → 3

    A case-sensitive COUNTIF.

Worth knowing

  • Case-sensitive lookup: INDEX(return,MATCH(TRUE,EXACT(lookup_range,key),0)).
  • Also catches trailing spaces that = would flag anyway.
  • Numbers are compared as text.

Where it goes wrong

  • Formatting differences do not matter, only the stored text.
  • Slower than = over large ranges.

Related

LEFTRIGHTLENTRIMUPPERLOWER

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