Text Compare / Diff Checker
Paste two versions and see exactly what changed, line by line and word by word. Private: your text never leaves your browser.
Differences
Private by design
Most diff sites send your text to a server. This one compares it in your browser, so contracts, code and drafts stay with you.
Line and word level
See which lines changed, and the exact words inside them. Long unchanged stretches are folded away so the changes stand out.
Standard patch output
Copy or download the differences in the unified diff format that git and the patch command understand.
How to compare two texts
- Paste the older version into the left box and the newer version into the right box, or open two files.
- The differences appear immediately. Red is removed, green is added, and the darker highlight shows the exact words that changed.
- Switch between side by side and inline, or ignore case and spacing if only formatting changed.
- Copy the diff, or download it as a patch file.
To check a document's length afterwards use the word counter. To tidy lists before comparing them, try the line sorter, and for structured data the JSON formatter makes two files line up properly.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I compare two pieces of text?▼
Paste the original text in the left box and the changed text in the right box. The differences are shown below straight away: removed lines in red, added lines in green, and the exact words that changed highlighted inside each line. There is no compare button to press.
Is it safe to paste confidential text here?▼
Yes. The comparison runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you paste or open is uploaded, stored or sent anywhere, which is the main reason to prefer this over diff sites that process your text on their servers. You can use it for contracts, code, drafts and configuration files.
What is the difference between side by side and inline view?▼
Side by side puts the old text on the left and the new text on the right, so each changed line sits opposite its replacement. Inline shows one column with the removed line above the added one, like a code review. Inline fits better on a phone, and the tool chooses it automatically on small screens.
How do I ignore differences in capital letters or spacing?▼
Tick 'Ignore case' to treat Hello and hello as the same, and 'Ignore spaces' to ignore extra spaces, tabs and spaces at the ends of lines. This is useful when text has been re-indented or copied through a program that changed the spacing. Line ending differences between Windows and Mac or Linux files are always ignored.
Can I compare two files?▼
Yes. Use 'Open file' above either box, or drag a text file onto it. It works with any plain text: .txt, .md, .csv, .json, .html, source code and log files. Word and PDF documents are not plain text, so copy their text and paste it instead.
How do I get the differences as a patch?▼
Press 'Copy diff' to copy the changes in the standard unified diff format used by git and the diff command, or 'Download .diff' to save them as a file. The output contains three lines of context around each change and works with the patch command.
How large a text can it compare?▼
Up to 50,000 lines on each side. Typical documents compare instantly, and a 20,000-line file with a few hundred edits takes a fraction of a second. If two long texts are almost entirely different, the tool says so and shows the whole block as replaced instead of freezing.
Does it show moved text?▼
No. Like most diff tools it compares line by line, so a paragraph that was moved to another place appears as deleted in one location and added in the other.