Compare Two Lists
Paste one list in each box, one item per line. The items only in List A, only in List B and in both lists are shown below as you type.
List A: 5 items. List B: 5 items.
Only in List A
2 itemsOnly in List B
2 itemsIn both lists
3 items
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Compare Two Lists
Compare Two Lists shows how two lists overlap. Paste one list in each box, one item per line, and the results show the items that are only in List A, the items that are only in List B, and the items that are in both. Use it to check a guest list against the RSVPs, find the emails missing from a mailing list, match product codes between two exports, or see who you follow that does not follow you back.
Order does not matter: each item is looked for anywhere in the other list. Empty lines are skipped, an item repeated within a list is counted once, and spaces around items are ignored by default. The lists are compared in your browser and never sent anywhere.
How do I compare two lists?
Paste the first list into List A and the second into List B, with one item on each line. The three result boxes fill in as you type: only in List A, only in List B, and in both lists, each with its count. Use the copy or download button under a result to take that list with you. A list pasted on one line with commas, semicolons or tabs, such as "red, green, blue", is split at them, and the separator setting can split any list at commas, semicolons, tabs or pipes.
How do I find items missing from a list?
Put the complete list in List A and the list you are checking in List B. The items missing from List B are the ones in "Only in List A". The reverse, "Only in List B", shows anything in the second list that the first does not have, such as a misspelled name.
Does capitalization matter?
By default "Apple" and "apple" are different items. Turn on Ignore case in the settings to treat them as the same, which is usually what you want for email addresses and names. The results keep the spelling each item had in its own list. For codes and IDs exported from different systems, Ignore leading zeros treats "007" and "7" as the same number.
How do I see who doesn't follow me back on Instagram?
Download your Instagram data: in the app or on instagram.com, open Accounts Center, then Your information and permissions, then Download your information, and ask for Followers and following in HTML or JSON format. When the download is ready, unzip it and find the connections folder. Open following.html (or following.json) in List A and followers_1.html (or followers_1.json) in List B. The page reads the usernames out of the files, and "Only in List A" lists the accounts you follow that do not follow you back. "Only in List B" lists followers you do not follow back. A followers list copied from instagram.com in a browser works too. Nothing is sent to Instagram or anywhere else, and no login is needed.
Can I compare two columns from Excel?
Yes. Copy a column in Excel or Google Sheets and paste it into List A, then do the same with the other column in List B: each cell arrives on its own line. You can also open a .csv, .txt or .xlsx file in either box, though a whole spreadsheet brings every cell, so copying the one column is usually simpler.
How is this different from Text Compare?
This tool ignores order and only asks whether each item appears in the other list. Text Compare follows the order of the lines and shows what was removed, added or changed between two versions of a document, down to the word. To remove repeated lines within a single list, use the Duplicate Line Remover.
Last reviewed: November 2026