Excel, Change the color of the cell if the two rows matches

calendar_today Asked Mar 5, 2014
thumb_up 13 upvotes
history Updated April 14, 2026

Direct Answer

Select your range from cell A (or the whole columns by first selecting column A). Make sure that the 'lighter coloured' cell is A1 the go to conditional formatting, new rule: Put…. This is an advisory response with reference links, ranked #116th of 303 by community upvote score, from 2014.


The Problem (Q-score 6, ranked #116th of 303 in the Excel VBA archive)

The scenario as originally posted in 2014

Basically, I have two sets of data.

I want to check if the value in column A, is the same value in Column B.

And if they are not, change the color of these cells.

For example:

http://i60.tinypic.com/2ai203l.png

Column I, Column AA
both have the value of a the first month in years from 1318 till 1500 “Arabic Calender”
but I want to check which of these values doesn’t match and color them with yellow for example.

In this case, both cells in row 3 should have a different color after the checking operation.

Is there a way to do that?

Thank you All,

Why community consensus is tight on this one

Across 303 Excel VBA entries in the archive, the accepted answer here holds solid answer (above median) status — meaning voters are unusually aligned on the right fix.


The Verified Solution — solid answer (above median) (+13)

Advisory answer — community consensus with reference links

Note: the verified answer below is a reference / advisory response rather than a copy-ready snippet.

  1. Select your range from cell A (or the whole columns by first selecting column A). Make sure that the ‘lighter coloured’ cell is A1 the go to conditional formatting, new rule:

    enter image description here

  2. Put the following formula and the choice of your formatting:

    =$A1<>$B1

    enter image description here

  3. Then press OK and that should do it.

    enter image description here


When to Use It — classic (2013–2016)

Ranked #116th in its category — specialized fit

This pattern sits in the 96% tail relative to the top answer. Reach for it when your scenario closely matches the question title; otherwise browse the Excel VBA archive for a higher-consensus alternative.

What changed between 2014 and 2026

The answer is 12 years old. The Excel VBA object model has been stable across Office 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 365, and 2024/2026 LTSC, so the pattern still compiles. Changes that might affect you: 64-bit API declarations (use PtrSafe), blocked macros in downloaded files (Mark-of-the-Web), and the shift toward Office Scripts for web-first workflows.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is this above-median answer still worth copying?
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Answer score +13 vs the Excel VBA archive median ~4; this entry is solid. The score plus 6 supporting upvotes on the question itself (+6) means the asker and 12 subsequent voters all validated the approach.

This answer links out — what are the reference links worth following?
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Read the first external link for the canonical reference, then search this archive for a top-10 entry in the same category — advisory answers are best paired with a ranked code snippet to close the loop.

Published around 2014 — what’s changed since?
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Published 2014, which is 12 year(s) before today’s Office 2026 build. The Excel VBA object model has had no breaking changes in that window. Three things to re-test: (1) blocked macros on downloaded files (Mark-of-the-Web), (2) 64-bit API declarations (PtrSafe, LongPtr), (3) any shift toward Office Scripts for web scenarios.

Which Excel VBA pattern ranks just above this one at #115?
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The pattern one rank above is “Column chart with primary and secondary y-axes”. If your use case overlaps, compare both before committing.

Data source: Community-verified Q&A snapshot. Q-score 6, Answer-score 13, original post 2014, ranked #116th of 303 in the Excel VBA archive. Last regenerated April 14, 2026.

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