How to compare 2 CSV files with MS Access

Compare two CSV files for differences in Access

It may happen to end with two different tables, in which you just want to know what are the exact differences, especially when you manage a lot of data.

I propose you a simple way to quickly get differences between two tables – the only difficult part is to get them in the right format !

The first step is to get two Excel workbook, for example an old one (Fig 1) and a new one (Fig 2).

Check that both tables have the same columns in the same order with the same naming, and that the first one contains a unique identifier – meaning there is no two times the same value in this column within the same file, and that same lines of both files have the same value in this column.

Also, you may want to order your tables, as the program will not do it – you can use standard Excel order function to do so.

Then, you should convert your Excel tables in CSV. Open then, and choose “File” => “Save As…” => “CSV (Comma delimited)(*.csv)”, for the first file (Fig 3), and then again for the second file (Fig 4).

You can now download the Access database I propose you[1] and save it in the same folder as your two CSV files.

Open it and select your language in the Macros menu (Fig 5), and the program will ask you to provide the name of the first file (Fig 6) to compare to the second one (Fig 7).

Pay attention to give the full name of the csv file, and to have them located in the same folder, or you will get an error (Fig 11).

Comparing two CSV files

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As a result, you will get up to 3 files, depending on type of errors found :

- a first file with new lines (Fig 8) found in second file but not in first file, with amount of new lines in file name,

- a second file with deleted lines (Fig 9) not found in second file but found in first file, with amount of deleted lines in file name,

- a third file with cell changes (Fig 10) from an old to a new value, with amount of changes in file name.

Example files were built using Random Word Generator (Plus)[2].

How to compare two tables in MSAccess

To compare two tables in MSAccess and see the differences cell by cell, export them as CSV files, and use our tool to compare CSV tables in MSAccess.

The result will be the comparison of the two tables in ACCESS tool. Line by line, column by column, and cell by cell the differences between the two ACCESS tables will be shown in the result file.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to compare two CSV files in Excel?

To compare two CSV files in Excel, you need to convert your Excel tables into CSV format and use a tool to compare the CSV tables. The tool will highlight the differences between the two tables, including new lines, deleted lines, and cell changes.

What is an efficient way to compare two CSV files using Microsoft Access?

Import both CSV files into separate tables in MS Access, then use a query to join the tables on a common field and select fields to compare. Access queries can efficiently identify matches, differences, and discrepancies between the two datasets.

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