oakenbitHow to compare two texts
- Paste the original version on the left and the changed version on the right, or open or drop a file onto each box.
- The comparison appears below as you type: removed text in red, added text in green.
- Tick Ignore spaces and indentation when only re-wrapped or re-indented lines differ, and Show only changes for long texts.
- Click Download as .diff to save the changes in the standard unified format that version-control and patch programs read.
Reading the result
| You see | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Red line, empty space on the right | The line was removed. |
| Green line, empty space on the left | The line was added. |
| Red and green line side by side | The line was changed; the words that differ are marked more strongly, so a changed amount or date stands out. |
| No colour | The line is the same in both versions. |
The tool finds the smallest set of added and removed lines that turns the original into the changed version, using the same method as common version-control tools, and then compares the words inside each changed line.
Why comparing locally matters
The texts people compare are often private: contracts and offers, letters, configuration files with passwords, exports with customer data. Many comparison websites send both texts to their server, and some keep them under a "saved" or "shared" link that others can open. Here, both texts are compared in your browser's memory and are gone when you close the tab. The page can only connect to this site, so it could not send your texts anywhere even by mistake.
Frequently asked questions
- Is my text uploaded?
- No. You can check it in the Network tab of your browser's developer tools or use the page offline once it has loaded.
- Can I compare Word or PDF documents?
- Copy the text out of the documents and paste it here. Formatting such as bold text or tables is not compared, only the words.
- Do different line endings count as changes?
- No. Windows, Mac and Linux line endings are treated the same, so a file saved on another system does not show every line as changed.
- How long can the texts be?
- Tens of thousands of lines work. If two very long texts have almost nothing in common, the tool asks you to compare smaller parts.
- What does it cost?
- Nothing. There are no ads, no sign-up and no limits.