How to use this tool
- Paste one item per line into List A and List B. Commas inside an input line remain part of that item.
- Choose the set operation, trimming, case matching and optional equivalent Unicode matching; set the result order and separator.
- Read the live result and totals. Copy or download it, Swap lists to reverse the sides, or Clear both and Undo last clear to restore the two inputs.
Understanding the output
Each distinct matching key counts once. Output retains the first source spelling after optional trimming; shared entries use A’s spelling. First-appearance order keeps A items before new B items in combined results. Alphabetical choices reorder the selected entries only. Unicode matching applies NFC to comparison keys without changing the visible spelling. Comma and tab outputs insert literal separators and do not perform CSV quoting.
For cleaning repetition within just one list, use Remove Duplicate Lines and choose its whitespace and case options.
Checking overlapping fruit lists
List A contains apple, pear, apple on separate lines. List B contains pear and plum. In both lists returns pear; Only in A returns apple; Only in B returns plum. All unique items returns apple, pear, plum in that order, with duplicate apple counted once.
Membership and quantity answer different questions
A stock list with three occurrences of the same product and another with one occurrence have the same membership for that product. This comparison treats lists as sets, so it cannot reconcile quantities, transaction totals, or duplicate record counts. Include a stable identifier as each line when names alone could refer to different records.
Choose normalization to match the data
Trimming and case-insensitive matching help reconcile inconsistent labels, but can merge meaningful differences in identifiers. Optional NFC handles canonically equivalent Unicode spellings. It does not standardize punctuation, internal spaces or accents with different meanings.
Method and supported input
Each input is limited to 100,000 UTF-16 code units and split on CRLF, CR, or LF. Empty items are discarded after optional trimming; a spaces-only line remains an item if trimming is off.
First occurrences are stored by exact, optionally NFC-normalized and lowercase keys. Set operations choose matching or absent keys. Sorting uses English alphabetical comparison; the selected line, comma-and-space or tab separator formats the selected result.
- One logical item occupies one line.
- Duplicate frequency and original cross-list ordering are not part of equality.
Limitations
- The tool does not parse CSV records, quoted multiline cells, or tables.
- Matching is exact after the selected transformations; there is no fuzzy matching.
- A lowercase comparison is not a full linguistic equivalence test.
Common questions
Are duplicate entries removed?
Yes. Every operation returns unique matching keys, even when an entry occurs several times in either input.
What is the symmetric difference?
It contains items found in exactly one list: A-only entries followed by B-only entries. Shared entries are excluded.
Can visually identical accented words match?
Enable Match equivalent Unicode spellings to compare NFC-normalized keys. It can match composed and decomposed accents but does not remove accents or perform fuzzy matching.
Sources and further reading
Reviewed on