Performance mode
Choose Maximum speed when you want the comparison to finish as soon as it can. Balanced and Reduced impact leave more time for other programs. They change how the work is scheduled, not which changes count as differences.
If the computer feels busy while a large workbook is checked, try Balanced first. Reduced impact is useful when keeping the rest of the desktop responsive matters more than finishing quickly. These are not fixed CPU-percentage settings.
Three different limits
| Setting or safeguard | What it means |
|---|---|
| Stop each file after | 100, 500, 1,000 (default), 5,000, or No limit. A stopping point ends the comparison of that file after that many meaningful differences. Ignored changes do not consume it. |
| Retained detail records | Even with No limit, only the first 5,000 individual difference records per file are kept for review, navigation, and export. A full scan can count more differences than it retains. |
| Detail rows to display | 50, 100, 250 (default), 500, or 1,000. This controls the rows shown after filtering, grouping, and sorting. It does not change the count or stop a scan. |
A result such as 100+ means at least 100 differences. Do not treat it as a complete total. “No limit” removes the selected difference stopping point; file size, available memory, and retained details still have practical limits.
Try the 125-change dispatch example
- Download the files from the limits lesson and select the two Dispatch.csv files.
- Set Stop each file after to 100 and compare. Read the result as 100+.
- Change it to No limit. Set Detail rows to display to 50 and compare again.
- In the details, set View to Every individual change. The total is 125, with only 50 detail rows shown.
- Raise Detail rows to display to 250. All 125 rows can now be displayed without rerunning.
Folder stopping is a separate choice
Stop after the first issue ends a folder run after its first Different, Missing / new, or Error result. It does not mean “stop each file after one difference.” Turn it off and run again to check the rest of the folder.
A smaller visible area in the side-by-side viewer can also help responsiveness. That changes how much sheet context is drawn, not how much of the workbook was compared.
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