Text Strings Don't Match - What Can I Investigate?

[SorryForTheStupidQuestion]

Hi All,

I've run into a problem where I have two text strings which I believe are the same but they don't match each other (and therefore don't work in index match formulas).

I've checked the lengths of both cells and they match so there's no extra spaces etc. I'm no case matching but casing appears to match anyway. One of my text strings is a copy and paste from a website so I'm wondering if that is the cause, but if so, how would I go about checking what the actual value is?

I tried pasting the two values in here (not as plain text) and it seems to fail, so I'm thinking this might be the issue, but if that's the case, I don't understand why it's showing the same in excel?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Fluff]

Do you have spaces in your text?
if so try
=CODE(MID(A1,7,1))
Change A1 to a cell with the problem value & the 7 to get the space.
What does the formula return?

 

[SorryForTheStupidQuestion]

Do you have spaces in your text?
if so try
=CODE(MID(A1,7,1))
Change A1 to a cell with the problem value & the 7 to get the space.
What does the formula return?

Many thanks for your response. On what I believe to be the problematic cell I get a value of 160, but in the one that I think is working correctly I get 32. Does this just mean different space types are being used?

 

[Fluff]

Yes it does, 32 is a normal space whilst 160 is a non-breaking space that typically comes from other software.
If you highlight the problem column, Ctrl H, int the Find What box type Alt 0160 (you must use the number keypad) & in the replace with box enter a space & then replace all
Make sure that "match entire cell" is unchecked.

 

[SorryForTheStupidQuestion]

That's fixed it! Thank you very much for your help.

 

[Fluff]

You're welcome & thanks for the feedback