my %OldFile; for my $file (@OldPicList) { $file =~ s{^\s+|\s+$}{}g; $oldFile{$file} = 1; } my @NewPicFolders; for my $file (@NewPicList) { $file =~ s{^\s+|\s+$}{}g; if ($oldFile{$file}) { # nothing } else { push @NewPicFolders, $file; } }