How to exclude phone numbers from one Google Sheets tab using data from another tab

Other Questions Google Sheets
1

I’m working with two Google Sheets tabs and need help with filtering data. The first tab contains phone numbers from our marketing campaign. The second tab has phone numbers of people who responded to our messages. I want to create a list that shows only the phone numbers from the first tab that are NOT present in the second tab.

Both tabs have a simple structure with just one column containing phone numbers. I know in SQL you could use something like NOT IN to compare arrays, but I’m not sure how to achieve this same logic in Google Sheets.

Is there a formula or filter method that can help me identify which numbers from my main list didn’t respond? I’d like to either filter the existing data or create a new tab with just these non-responders.

2

Try VLOOKUP with IFERROR in a helper column. Put =IFERROR(VLOOKUP(A2,SecondTab!A:A,1,FALSE),"Not Found") next to each phone number, then filter for “Not Found” entries. You’ll see exactly what’s happening with each lookup, which makes troubleshooting way easier when numbers don’t match. This is great for catching phone number formatting issues - you can instantly spot which entries need fixing. Yeah, you need an extra column, but it’s worth it for bigger datasets where you want to make sure your matching logic actually works.

3

Use FILTER and ISNA with MATCH: =FILTER(A:A, ISNA(MATCH(A:A, SecondTab!A:A, 0))) where A:A is your first tab’s phone numbers and SecondTab!A:A is your second tab. MATCH throws an error when it can’t find a value, ISNA catches those errors to spot the non-matches. I’ve done this for similar comparisons - works great with duplicates. Just watch out for formatting issues like leading spaces or different number formats that mess up matching. You’ll get a dynamic array that updates automatically when you add new data.

4

Try =ARRAYFORMULA(NOT(COUNTIF(SecondTab!A:A,FirstTab!A:A))) and filter for TRUE values. COUNTIF gives you 0 when it doesn’t find the number in the second tab, then NOT flips it to true/false. Way simpler than MATCH and deals with blanks better too.