ΔText Diff / Compare
Compare two blocks of text and see line-by-line differences.
Line-by-line comparison of two blocks of text, without needing either of them to be in version control.
The cases it earns its keep on are mundane: checking what a client actually changed in a document they returned, comparing two config files when one server works and another does not, confirming a copy edit only touched what it was supposed to.
It compares lines, not words
A change anywhere in a line marks the whole line as changed. That has a practical consequence for prose — rewrapping a paragraph shows as a large difference even when one word moved.
If you know a document is going to be diffed repeatedly, keeping it one sentence per line makes every future comparison readable. It is a small habit that pays off in contracts and specifications particularly.
When identical text shows differences
Invisible characters, always. Trailing spaces, tabs against spaces, or Windows line endings against Unix ones. Text pasted from a PDF or a Word document frequently carries non-breaking spaces that look exactly like ordinary ones.
If two strings look the same and refuse to match, this is where to start looking — and the text cleaner will strip most of it.
Where to use something else
For files in a repository, your version control diff is better: it understands history, shows context, and can tell you when and why each change happened. For large files, the command line diff will handle sizes this page will not.
Everything runs locally, which is the reason to use a browser tool for a contract or a configuration file rather than pasting it somewhere remote.
This tool is provided free of charge for general information and convenience only. It runs in your browser and we do not store the data you enter. We make no guarantee as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability of any result, and accept no liability for any loss, damage, or decision arising from its use — use it at your own risk. See our Terms & Conditions.