How to compare two text files
- Select Choose file above Original text and open the first version.
- Choose the updated file above Changed text. Check that both editors show the intended text.
- Select word, character or line mode, then choose Compare text.
- Review the changes and download a text report if you want to keep a copy.
Which files can I compare?
Use UTF-8 plain text files such as .txt, .md, .csv, .json, logs and source files. Files must be no larger than 400 KB and contain no more than 100,000 characters each. CSV and JSON are compared as text, without matching rows, columns or object keys.
Word documents, PDFs, spreadsheets, images and other binary files cannot be imported. For documents, copy their text first and check the limitations. For a cell-by-cell check, use our Excel comparison guide.
Make file differences easier to review
Start with line mode for logs and lists. Switch to character mode when punctuation or individual values matter. Windows and Unix line endings are treated as equivalent. If the comparison has too many differences, compare a smaller section.
Prefer working in your editor? Follow the guides for VS Code or Notepad++.