WinDiff
WinDiff is a graphical file comparison software that allows you to compare two files and folders, identify differences between the two almost instantly, and quickly get them from a simple interface. The tools come with certain versions of Microsoft Visual Studio and older versions of Windows like Windows XP, Vista, and 7. Working with many documents daily and especially those documents that tend to be similar, the WinDiff tool comes in handy at that time.
With the WinDiff, you can do that quickly, which will help you compare two documents or two folders at the same time and highlight differences. The scanning will be done after you select the two files you want to compare. After that, the app will try to identify the differences between the two. The comparing process is smooth and should give you a good idea of where the differences are without taking much of your time.
WinDiff Alternatives
#1 AptDiff
AptDiff is a visual text and binary file comparison and merging software available for an older version of Windows like 2000, XP, 2003, and Vista. It is highly useful for software developers, web designers, and other professionals with full Unicode support. This program displays two files side by side, highlighting the differences. The program’s interface is plain and intuitive. You have to simply choose the desired files, and AptDiff will display a side-by-side or top-bottom comparison, highlighting any differences. It also lets you merge the documents or cut and copy blocks of text in either one.
AptDiff includes features like the ability to toggle the files within the interface, launch an external text editor, and make one or both of the files read-only. It offers support for multiple languages and customizable keyboard shortcuts. You can integrate it into the Windows Explorer context menu to quickly compare two selected files, enable file backups, save the files before re-comparing them, personalize the UI font and colors, and so on.
#2 CompareMerge
CompareMerge is software for macOS that you can use to compare and merge text or binary files. It is useful for determining what has changed between versions and then merging changes between versions. The quick compare folders feature allows you to quickly compare two folders by size or date or both or with full content. A Blank Compare mode allows the creation of a blank edit window to compare text then save it later. You can select custom theme color or customize text color and background color. The tool allows you to merge multiple text files. In case there are differences in every file, the CompareMerge will take the different content in each file and make a file containing a mixture of all files.
File filters include or exclude files that match regular expressions, and you can filter display items based on the file name after comparing two folders. The tool also lets you control the depth of folder comparison, i.e., how many subfolders must be included in the comparison.
#3 Online Text Compare
Online Text Compare tool allows you to compare two documents in different formats. The tool finds the difference or similarities between both and highlights the difference within seconds. This helps you know what exactly has been copied or what has been poorly paraphrased between two documents. The supporting documents include text, PDfs, Word files, and URLs.
It has four different types of comparison styles, including Mark-up 1, Mark-up 2, side by side, and Inline view. The process is very simple. You just have to paste the text or upload the file you want to compare in both sections. Select the comparison style, hit compare, and it will immediately show the result.
#4 GNU Diffutils
GNU Diffutils is a program for finding the comparison between multiple files. When you are looking at the differences between files, you will want to see the parts of the files near the lines that differ, to help you understand what has changed. Comparing and merging files in GNU Diffutils provides two output formats that show context around the differing lines. One is context format, and the other is the unified format. It can optionally show in which function or section of the file the differing lines are found.
You can use the diff command to show differences between two files or each corresponding file in two directories. Diffutils output differences between files, line by line, and with command-line options. Diffutils normally produce no output for files that are identical. And for binary files, diff normally reports that they are different.
#5 Litera Workshare Compare
Litera Workshare Compare is a file and folder comparison tool that precisely detects changes across any two documents in no time. No matter you are at home, office, or college, the tool comes in handy for finding if the two documents contain duplicate content or not. Or you can use it to merge differences of multiple documents into one file to get a mix of both files. It supports PDFs, Microsoft Word files, PowerPoint, Excel, and many other formats.
See changes in charts, text, tables, comments, embedded objects like ChemDraw, Excel sheets, Visio, OCR, and embedded images including JPG, TIFF, BMP, etc. The comparison analysis is structured by change type and quantity, helping you filter results and quickly modify or flag for later. Litera Workshare Compare gives a holistic analysis of every changed element within your document in a layout that is easy to understand.
#6 GrigSoft Compare It!
GrigSoft Compare It! is a file and folder comparison tool that allows you to compare two documents and merge them in no time. With the GrigSoft Compare It, you can quickly and visually identify the differences between files, merge the differences between them, and print your work without any problem. You can compare text files with a side-by-side comparison style, and it will highlight the differences to simplify the analysis.
The tool also lets you compare XML files and easily strip tags from them with regular expression support. With the word wrapping feature, you can easily see changes in long sentences without having to scroll down to the end. Additionally, it supports zip and other compressed file formats.
#7 Text Compare!
Text Compare! is an online file comparison tool that allows you to cross-check multiple files for plagiarism. You can easily search for copies of your offline content by pasting the text. By witnessing the changes to texts side-by-side, you can clearly know what has changed from one version to the next.
Being loaded with great features, it allows you to easily scan texts and track duplication between both files. It will highlight all those words sentences that are similar and matched entirely. This tool has unlimited use per day usage. It can find similarity by directly uploading .DOC / .TXT / DOCX / .PDF files, binary data, or plain text.
#8 Copyleaks Text Compare
Copyleaks Text Compare online tool lets you compare two files or documents with a side-by-side view. You can compare almost any kind of document with the help of the Copyleaks text comparison tool. The document types that are supported by our diff checker include raw text, URLs, and files. You need to select the text files you want to compare, and the detailed result will be shown to you immediately. The report contains all types of similarities that are found by our text comparison tool. Supported document formats are HTML, TXT, PDF, DOC, DOCX, RTF, XML, PPT, PPTX, ODT, CHM, EPUB, ODP, and PPSX.
Artificial Intelligence and machine learning is used to check the similarities between two documents. The AI technology helps in finding rephrased sentences between two texts during compare checks. You can also check for copying between texts and gauge the difference between two drafts of the same content. All in all, Copyleaks Text Compare is a great tool with some advanced and accurate comparison features that you can use to save your time in sorting similar documents.