What is the Text Diff Checker?#
The Text Diff Checker compares two versions of a text and shows what changed between them. Paste an original and a revised copy, and the added, removed, and changed lines are each marked as you type, with a count for each kind.
Differences inside a changed line are highlighted character by character, so you can see exactly where the two versions part ways. That makes small edits — a swapped word, a punctuation mark, a change in letter case — easy to spot.
How to Use#
- Paste the original text into the Original field.
- Paste the revised text into the Changed field.
- Check the highlighted differences and the counts of added, removed, and changed lines.
When the text has more than one block of changes, you can move from one block to the next. When you want to take the result elsewhere, the diff is ready to copy.
Options#
- Ignore whitespace: treats lines that differ only in whitespace as the same line. Whitespace anywhere in a line is ignored, so
a bandabcompare as equal. - Ignore case: treats
Appleandappleas the same line when comparing. - No height limit: removes the height limit on the diff area so the whole comparison is visible at once. Scrolling moves the page instead of the panel.
- Wrap lines: wraps long lines at the panel width without changing the width of either side.
- Highlight: Lines marks whole changed lines. Characters also marks the characters that differ inside changed lines. This setting changes only the display; the counts and the copied diff stay the same.
Common Use Cases#
- Checking a revised draft against the previous version before publishing.
- Comparing an edited configuration file or translation file with the original.
- Spotting unintended edits after copying text between documents or tools.
FAQ#
No. The comparison runs in your browser, and your text never leaves your device.
A removed line and an added line that are matched together count as one changed line. Lines with no match count as added or removed.
Yes. It is a standard unified diff. Replace the Original and Changed header names with your real file names, and tools such as git apply or patch can read it. Line endings are normalized to LF during comparison, so a CRLF file may not match as-is. Converting the file to LF first lets the patch apply.
If the comparison takes too long, it stops and suggests comparing smaller sections. Typical drafts and files compare without interruption.
Notes#
- Line endings are normalized: Windows (CRLF), old Mac (CR), and Unix (LF) endings compare as the same, and a single line break at the end of the text is ignored.
- The copied diff uses three lines of context around each change, with the header names
--- Originaland+++ Changed. - Differences hidden by the ignore options do not appear in the counts or in the copied diff.
- "Ignore whitespace" affects how lines are matched, so whitespace differences inside a changed line are still marked in the Characters view.