You can use the Compare Project Versions tool to compare two versions of the same project file and display the resulting information in a detailed, customized report. This tool allows you to review differences between a current version and an earlier version, or to contrast two possible projections.

If you are using Microsoft Project 2002, you need to download and install the comparison tool—Microsoft Project 2002 COM Add-in: Compare Project Versions. A new toolbar, Compare Project Versions, will be displayed in Microsoft Project 2002 after you have installed the tool.

In Microsoft Project 2002, to display the Compare Project Versions toolbar, point to Toolbars on the View menu, and then click Compare Project Versions.

Use the Compare Project Versions toolbar buttons to:

• Compare two versions of a project file.
• Focus on specific task or resource changes in both project files.
• Specify the items and columns you want to display in the Comparison report.
• Review a legend for the Comparison report.

Compare two versions of a project

If you have two versions of a project file and would like to find out exactly what changed from one version to the next, open them both in Microsoft Project and compare them, using the following steps:

1. Open the two versions of your project that you want to compare, making sure that the newest version is the active project file.
2. On the Compare Project Versions toolbar, click Compare Project Versions.
3. Under Choose the project versions you want to compare, verify that the correct files are selected in the Project version 1 (earlier version) and Project version 2 (later version) boxes.
   
   

   Note   If you use Microsoft Project Professional, you need to log on to Microsoft Project Server to open projects stored there. You can only compare project versions that you have access permissions for.
   

4. Under Choose the tables to be used in the comparison, in the Task Table and Resource Table boxes, click the tables that contain the data you want to compare. If you don't want to compare tasks or resources, click None.
5. Click OK. A temporary project is created to display the tasks and resources of both versions for comparison and reporting purposes only.

Tip    The comparison report displays color coding and indicators that provide information about tasks and resources. To see a legend and get help about the symbols used, click More Information on the Compare Project Versions toolbar.

Notes

• A Comparison report resembles, but is not, a project schedule. It does not contain the scheduling features of Microsoft Project.
• You cannot compare projects that are opened in Internet Explorer or embedded as an OLE object in another document.
• The Compare Project Versions tool only compares tasks and resources. It does not compare assignments.

Focus on specific task or resource changes in both projects

To get a before-and-after picture of a specific change, you can choose to display the Comparison report alongside both versions of the project file. The specific changes in both versions are clearly marked.

• On the Compare Project Versions toolbar, click Go to Task/Resource in Project Versions.

Specify the items and columns you want to display in the Comparison report

The Compare Project Versions toolbar contains two sets of filters you can apply to focus on information you need to see:

• To filter by specific items, click the items you want to display in Select Tasks/Resources to Show in the Comparison Report box.
• To filter by specific columns, click the columns you want to display in the Select Columns to Show in the Comparison Report box.