I have an excel spreadsheet that I would like to be able to automate the
process of comparing two columns of data and then inserting blank cells into
the 2nd column which would continue to move the data in the 2nd column down
to the next row. I do not want to insert a row.

here is sample data before
col1 col2 col3 col4
abbott joe baker sally
atkins ted conti greg
baker sally
conti greg fudd elmer
doe john
fudd elmer

After comparing the names should match up or the cell should be blank.So the
data would look like this.

col1 col2 col3 col4
abbott joe
atkins ted
baker sally baker sally
conti greg conti greg
doe john
fudd elmer fudd elmer

I would appreciate any suggestions to make this process go quicker. Right
now I am doing this manually. Maybe something using a macro or VBA in Excel?
I know how to use VBA but I am not sure how to write the code.

Marianne