A spreadsheet can hold visually similar strings that should not be interchangeable: AB-101 versus ab-101, East versus East (trailing space), or text with two internal spaces instead of one. EXACT checks whether its two text arguments are identical according to the documented text-comparison operation, returning a logical TRUE/FALSE result in the formula cell. It is helpful for audits, case-sensitive product codes and checking whether imported values preserve capitalization. It does not modify, trim, or normalize either input automatically.

=EXACT(Text1, Text2)

Text1 (required): the first text string to compare, such as a quoted literal or a text reference A2.

Text2 (required): the second text string to compare, such as B2. The order of the arguments does not change the expected equality outcome for two ordinary text strings. Both arguments are required and the official 2021, 2024 and 2026 manuals do not list optional arguments or default values.

Return type: TRUE when the texts match exactly, otherwise FALSE for nonmatching ordinary text. Capital letters matter. Formatting (font/bold/color) is a presentation property rather than a reason for text to differ, but the current batch does not include PlanMaker-native formatting tests. Treat character-content differences—case and spaces—as the focus of the verified reference behavior.

The English SoftMaker manuals print arguments separated by commas; actual formula entry punctuation may depend on installed language and locale. The case-sensitive rule is consistently documented in PlanMaker 2021, 2024 and 2026. Those references do not identify EXACT’s first introduction, all supported editions, or every locale-specific comparison rule.

Primary evidence for syntax and case sensitivity

• PlanMaker 2026/NX English PDF manual, printed page 622: exact EXACT(Text1, Text2) syntax, case sensitivity and official aaa/Aaa examples. Vendor PDF, accessed 2026-10-11.
• PlanMaker 2024 English PDF manual, printed page 616 (EXACT begins on that printed page and continues on the next): identical syntax in the reference. Vendor PDF, accessed 2026-10-11.
• PlanMaker 2021 English PDF manual, printed page 584: case-sensitive EXACT and matching examples. Vendor PDF, accessed 2026-10-11.

Create a fresh worksheet with Original in A1, Received in B1, and Match? in C1. Enter the following literal text values into A and B; for the numeric-looking identifier row, first format both input cells as Text or prefix each value with a single leading apostrophe to preserve its leading zeros. In C2 type =EXACT(A2,B2) and fill down to C8. The expected outputs are based on ordinary text comparison and independently calculated equality checks, not native PlanMaker execution.

Reproducibility note: ordinary copy-and-paste may drop trailing spaces or convert numeric-looking text; for row 5, construct B5 with ="QA"&" " if you cannot reliably enter the trailing space. For row 7, explicitly preserve both entries as text before applying the comparison. The formula in C is unchanged. In row 4 the original has one space while the received text has two; that difference matters to exact string equality.

Follow the comparison step by step

For row 3, PlanMaker takes A3 (AB-101) and B3 (ab-101). Their letters have different capitalization, so documented case sensitivity makes the expected result FALSE. For row 6, both cells hold precisely north, so the result is expected TRUE. Neither comparison rewrites the cell contents.

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In D2, enter =IF(EXACT(A2,B2),"Match","Investigate"). With A2 and B2 from the sample table, expected D2 is Match. Copy this formula down: D3 should be Investigate because its capitalization differs. The IF function is separately documented, but this combined expression has not been natively executed in PlanMaker for this guide. Keep the logical EXACT output in column C to make audit results easy to troubleshoot.

A deliberate case-insensitive comparison

SoftMaker’s EXACT reference includes an example of comparing uppercased text: =EXACT(UPPER("aaa"),UPPER("Aaa")) returns TRUE in its documentation. This is a way to ignore the ASCII case difference in that particular sample. For the A3 and B3 sample, =EXACT(UPPER(A3),UPPER(B3)) is therefore expected TRUE. Do not assume that case conversion resolves spaces, punctuation, all international case-folding rules or Unicode normalization. Official 2026 manual, printed p. 622, checked 2026-10-11.

Check whether spaces explain a failed match

When EXACT returns FALSE unexpectedly, inspect the underlying text: =LEN(A5) is expected 2 for QA, whereas =LEN(B5) is expected 3 for QA (one trailing space). PlanMaker’s separately documented LEN function helps reveal this. Applying TRIM to both strings might remove edge spaces, but doing so changes your comparison rule; keep the original values and decide whether leading/trailing spaces have meaning for that field.

Distinguish EXACT from searching for a substring

• Different capital letters: EXACT is case-sensitive, so AB and ab do not compare as equal. This is not an error in the formula; it is the purpose of EXACT.
• Unexpected FALSE with apparently identical text: inspect leading, trailing and repeated internal spaces. Hidden line breaks or nonprinting characters can also be relevant; do not assume a formatting change fixes the underlying value.
• Codes lose leading zeros: numeric-looking entries such as 0097 may be converted on import. Store identifiers as text before comparing; do not claim EXACT can restore stripped zeroes.
• Text versus numbers, dates and errors: the official EXACT entry proves behavior for text strings. This batch does not establish detailed coercion for numeric/date arguments or which error is emitted for every non-text/error input. Native validation is required before documenting a specific PlanMaker error code or conversion rule.
• Case-insensitive matching desired: a deliberate conversion with UPPER or LOWER can standardize ASCII cases, but can change meaning and is not a substitute for a carefully chosen comparison policy.
• Formula displays literally: check leading =, the two required arguments, balanced quotes and parentheses, and formula-cell settings.

Microsoft’s Excel EXACT documentation (checked 2026-10-11) also specifies two required arguments and a case-sensitive comparison. It explicitly says Excel ignores formatting differences when comparing text. This supports the simple text examples shared with PlanMaker’s vendor reference but does not establish complete cross-program equivalence for rich text, locale-specific casing, numbers, date values or Unicode normalization. No Excel-native execution or PlanMaker .xlsx / .xls round-trip testing was performed.

Vendor manuals consulted: PlanMaker 2021 (p. 584), 2024 (p. 616), and 2026/NX (p. 622), all English editions and accessed 2026-10-11. This verifies documented syntax and ordinary case-sensitive text equality across three manual versions, not first-available build, all paid/free editions, Windows/macOS/Linux parity, Android/iOS runtime parity, or every locale.

• PlanMaker 2026 function catalogue — EXACT listed, accessed 2026-10-11.
• PlanMaker 2026 English PDF — EXACT printed p. 622, accessed 2026-10-11.
• PlanMaker 2024 English PDF — EXACT printed p. 616, accessed 2026-10-11.
• PlanMaker 2021 English PDF — EXACT printed p. 584, accessed 2026-10-11.
• Microsoft Excel EXACT reference — Excel-only comparison notes, accessed 2026-10-11.

• SoftMaker PlanMaker — function documentation
• PlanMaker 2026 function catalogue

Verification status: Official documentation checked; example outcomes were independently reasoned or arithmetically checked where applicable. Not executed in SoftMaker PlanMaker.

• No genuine SoftMaker PlanMaker screenshots are included; this guide does not use mock application images.