I have to compare two columns of data to identify duplicates. I used Conditional Formatting to format the cells in blue if an item in Column A matches an item in Column B.



It works like a charm, BUT the data has to match exactly or the cell doesn't format in blue.

These are company names, and the person who input the data sometimes typed "ABC, Inc," or typed "ABC Inc.,: so the presence/absence of a comma or a period throws off the results.

So I thought there might be a TRUE/FALSE switch in the MATCH function that will return partial matches. Is this worth pursuing? Or will it come back with a match on everything because the company names all contain "Inc"? What would the formula be?

Thanks much!

try this --- may work
conditional format / formula is =MATCH("*"&$A1&"*",B:B,0)