Compare two texts and see the differences

How it works

1. 1

   Paste the original text on the left.

2. 2

   Paste the changed text on the right.

3. 3

   Read the green and red lines to see what changed.

About the Text Compare (Diff)

When two versions of a config file, contract clause or code snippet look almost the same, finding what changed by eye is slow and unreliable. This tool compares two blocks of text line by line and shows the result as one list, marking lines that were added in green and lines that were removed in red, with a count of each.

What you can do

• Paste the original and changed text side by side, each with line numbers.
• See a combined view where added lines start with + and removed lines with −.
• Read the totals of added and removed lines.
• Share both texts with a Share link so someone else sees the same comparison.

When it works best

• Checking what changed between two exported config or .env files.
• Comparing a policy or contract draft with the version a client sent back.
• Spotting the difference between two SQL queries or log excerpts.

Things to know

• Both texts are compared in your browser. Share links contain the full text, so avoid sharing private documents that way.
• Each side is limited to 4,000 lines.
• Differences are found per line, so a one-character change marks the whole line as removed and added. Spaces at the end of a line also count; run both through the Whitespace Cleaner to ignore them.
• To compare two PDF files, use Compare PDF.

Frequently asked questions