COUNTIF not counting

[will b]

If I am using COUNTIF to compare 2 sets of data (e.g. 2 lists of names) that
I have copied from 2 different websites, COUNTIF does not recognize some
names that match. I use TRIM and match the formats and of the 2 data sets,
still does not work 100%. Of Course, when I copy the cell from one set (e.g.
John Doe) and paste it over the the "John Doe" in the other set, it works.
Is there anything else I can do?

 

[Gary''s Student]

Look at the two cells in the foluma bar to see exactly what "hidden"
characters are present

 

[Bob Phillips]

There may be other characters in there. Try David McRitchies' TRIMALL
function on the range http://www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/excel/join.htm£trimall

--
HTH

Bob

(there's no email, no snail mail, but somewhere should be gmail in my addy)

 

[Dave Peterson]

I bet that there's a difference between the two strings.

I'd clean up the data in the table and the data that you're matching on.