Excel - How do I remove the items in column 1 from column 2 and put results in column 3?

excel worksheet-function
DulcimerDude picture DulcimerDude · Dec 17, 2010 · Viewed 19.1k times · Source

I read a similar question but, was not exactly what I needed and was over my head.

I have two columns each with a different number of rows. Each column has a single first name in each row. How can I compare the first column to the second column. Removing the names in the first column from the second and create a third column with the result?

I am BRAND new at this and need very verbose example. Thank you!

remove  | keep    | result
---------------------------
jimbo   | griffin | griffin
james   | jim     | jim
peter   | jimbo   | sanford
fred    | fred    | 
        | sanford |

None of the rows are in any particular order...

Also, the remove column could be in the center and keep column first, matters not to me..

Thanks so much for helping me learn this!!

Answer

Miyagi Coder picture Miyagi Coder · Dec 17, 2010

Assuming your data is in columns A and B. Paste this formula in column C and fill down:

=IF(ISERROR(MATCH(B1,A:A,0)),B1,"")

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