Compare LibreOffice ODS and Excel files by their data
Check whether the records survived a format change without treating document formatting as data.
To compare an ODS file with an Excel file in Spreadsheet Comparison, load each workbook, select the relevant worksheet and map the matching fields. Use a stable key to align the records. The files do not need to use the same format or row order.
Decide what you want to verify
There are two different jobs here: reviewing edits to a document and checking exported records. LibreOffice has a document-version comparison workflow described in its comparison documentation. A keyed data comparison is useful when the records have moved or the two files came from different systems.
For a synthetic supplier list, use Supplier ID to match a row in suppliers.ods with the corresponding row in suppliers.xlsx. Compare fields such as payment terms and postal code. Leave a generated export timestamp out if it is unrelated to the question you are reviewing.
Check conversions before interpreting differences
Microsoft documents that XLSX and ODS do not preserve every feature in the same way. See its ODS and XLSX compatibility guide. A data comparison can help identify changed imported values, but it does not certify that formatting, validation rules or formulas survived a conversion.
Check a date, a decimal and an identifier after import. A supplier code with leading zeros should remain an identifier, not become a number merely because it contains digits. Refresh and save calculated values in the source application when those values are part of the review.
Run a focused comparison
- Preserve both originals and note how the converted copy was created.
- Select one corresponding data worksheet from each workbook.
- Map Supplier ID to its equivalent and select it as the key.
- Compare the fields that should have survived the conversion.
- Inspect changed rows and rows present in only one file separately.
If an import fails or a worksheet is arranged as several unrelated tables, create a clean working export with one header row. Confirm the row count before using that export as evidence. An encrypted or unsupported workbook may also need a separate supported export.
Keep the report narrow enough to trust
State which sheets and columns were compared. A report for one supplier table says nothing about an unselected worksheet. The app’s technical workbook and memory limits still apply after purchase; review the file requirements before starting with a large workbook.