Excel names don't match? Find similar records with fuzzy matching
Quick answer
Open Fuzzy Lookup, upload both files, pick the column to match on, and set how close counts as a match. It finds records like "ABC Trading LLC" and "ABC Trading L.L.C." that an exact match would miss, and flags anything too close to call for you to review.
- 1Upload both files.
- 2Click the column to match on in each.
- 3Set how close counts as a match.
- 4Review anything flagged, then download.
Free, no sign-up, and your file is read on your own device rather than uploaded.
Two spreadsheets rarely spell the same company or customer name exactly the same way. One has "ABC Trading LLC", the other has "ABC Trading L.L.C." - obviously the same business to a person reading it, but an exact match (a plain VLOOKUP or a formula-based check) treats them as completely different values and simply fails to connect them.
Fuzzy matching solves this by comparing how similar two values are, not just whether they are identical. It tries an exact match first - that is always the most reliable result when it works - and only falls back to similarity scoring for whatever is left over, so nothing that already matched perfectly is second-guessed.
Step by step
Click the column to match on in each
The name or reference that should identify the same thing in both files - a company name, a customer name, a product description.
Match Similar NamesSet how close counts as a match
A single slider controls how similar two values need to be before they count as the same thing - higher is stricter, lower catches more but risks false matches.
Match Similar NamesReview anything flagged, then download
Close calls go to a review queue rather than being silently decided for you - accept or reject each one, then export the result.
Match Similar Names
Tips
- Start with the default threshold and look at what lands in the review queue before tightening or loosening it - the review queue is exactly the candidates the setting is unsure about.
- Fuzzy matching is a fallback, not the first attempt: anything that matches exactly is used as-is, so tightening the threshold only affects the genuinely uncertain cases.
- For company names specifically, common differences like "Ltd" vs "Limited", punctuation and extra whitespace are exactly the pattern this catches that an exact match cannot.
Common problems
Two records that are clearly the same business were not matched.
Lower the matching threshold slightly and re-run - if they still do not appear as a candidate, check that you selected the right column on each side; fuzzy matching compares the values in the columns you chose, not the whole row.
The review queue has candidates that are genuinely different businesses.
That is the threshold working as intended - reject those specific candidates in the review queue rather than loosening the threshold for every row, which would let more false matches through elsewhere.
You're not sure whether to use this or plain VLOOKUP.
If the values in both files are typed consistently (the same system, the same format), plain matching in VLOOKUP is faster and needs no review. Reach for fuzzy matching specifically when the two sources spell things differently.
Frequently asked questions
- What counts as a "close" match?
- A combination of edit distance (how many character changes separate two values) and how similar the words themselves are, whichever score is higher. "ABC Trading LLC" and "ABC Trading L.L.C." score highly on both.
- Does fuzzy matching replace exact matching?
- No - exact, normalised matches are always found and used first. Fuzzy matching only applies to whatever is left unmatched after that, as a deliberate fallback rather than the default method.
- Can I review matches before they are finalised?
- Yes - anything the tool is not confident about goes to a review queue where you accept or reject it individually before the result is generated.
- Is there a full audit trail of what matched and why?
- Yes - the result includes a match summary showing how many rows matched exactly, how many needed fuzzy matching, and how many are still unmatched or awaiting review.
- Are my files uploaded anywhere?
- No. Matching happens entirely in your browser, on your own device.
Related data tools
- VLOOKUP OnlineBring columns from one sheet into another, without writing a formula.
- Find Similar RecordsFind the duplicates that an exact match will never catch.
- Check Two Systems AgreeReconcile two systems and see exactly where they disagree.
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Ready to do it?
Free, no sign-up, and nothing is uploaded to a server.