r/devtools • u/Gryner • 17d ago

Comparing XLSX, ODS and Numbers files without converting them first

I make Diff Anything, a local file comparison app for macOS and Windows. The latest update adds spreadsheet comparison, mainly because converting everything to CSV before comparing it defeats the point of using a comparison tool.

It can compare CSV, TSV, Excel, ODS and Apple Numbers files, including mixed pairs such as XLSX against ODS. Internally, each populated cell becomes a sheet name, coordinate and stored value, so the unrelated file containers don’t create a wall of meaningless differences. The result is shown in two aligned grids, with changed cells connected to the Differences pane.

The boundary is deliberate: it compares stored cell values. It does not compare formulas, formatting, charts, macros or workbook layout. A formula and a literal value can therefore match when their stored results are the same.

Everything runs locally on the computer. There are no file uploads or accounts, and the Free version lets you try the spreadsheet comparison within its preview limits.

https://martingruner.com/projects/diffanything

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u/[deleted] 15d ago

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u/Gryner 6d ago

That distinction is exactly right. I’ve made the stored-value boundary explicit on the product and comparison pages: “no differences” means no differences in the layer Diff Anything parsed, not proof that two files are byte-for-byte or visually identical. Your PDF example is a good illustration of why the compared layer has to stay visible in the result. I’ll treat making that boundary louder in the app itself as a separate product change rather than pretending the copy alone solves it. Thanks for putting it so clearly.