What is EXACT function in Excel?
EXACT function is one of TEXT functions in Microsoft Excel that compares two text strings and returns TRUE if they are exactly the same, FALSE otherwise. EXACT is case-sensitive but ignores formatting differences. Use EXACT to test text being entered into a document.
Syntax of EXACT function
EXACT(text1, text2)
The EXACT function syntax has the following arguments:
- Text1: The first text string.
- Text2: The second text string.
Example of EXACT function
Steps to follow:
1. Open a new Excel worksheet.
2. Copy data in the following table below and paste it in cell A1
Note: For formulas to show results, select them, press F2 key on your keyboard and then press Enter.
You can adjust the column widths to see all the data, if need be.
| First string | Second string | |
| word | word | |
| Word | word | |
| word | word | |
| Formula | Description | Result |
| =EXACT(A2,B2) | Checks whether the strings in the first row match | TRUE |
| =EXACT(A3,B3) | Checks whether the strings in the second row match (“W” is uppercase in A3) | FALSE |
| =EXACT(A4,B4) | Checks whether the strings in the third row match (A4 contains a space between “w” and “ord) | FALS |