Collocations for identical - adj.

appear, be, look, seem, sound
remain

absolutely, completely, exactly
not necessarily
Different spreadsheet packages tend to be similar, though not necessarily identical.

almost, largely, more or less, nearly, practically, pretty much, substantially, virtually
The two houses were more or less identical.

apparently, seemingly (esp. AmE)
basically, essentially
otherwise
They're shaded differently but are otherwise identical.

chemically, functionally, genetically

in
These two models are absolutely identical in appearance.

to
This knife is identical to the one used in the attack.

with
offspring that are genetically identical with the parents

Identical is used with these nouns:
copy, fashion, pair, twin