How to compare two texts and find the differences
You edited a product description, or your supplier sent a new version of the agreement saying “we changed one small clause”. Reading both versions word by word is tiring, and a number changed in the middle of a paragraph is easy to miss. An automatic comparison shows every difference in seconds.
What does the comparison show?
- Added lines, with a + sign and an underline.
- Removed lines, with a − sign and a strike-through.
- Modified lines, as a −/+ pair with the changed words highlighted inside them.
The marks do not rely on color alone, so they stay clear for people who do not tell colors apart. And every line is shown in its own direction, whether Arabic or English.
The original has 4 lines: the product name, a price of 100 SAR, free shipping, and returns within 7 days.
The new version: the price is now 120, the free shipping line is gone, returns are now within 14 days, and a cash on delivery line was added.
Result: 3 lines added and 3 removed, of which 2 are modified lines shown as a pair, and 1 line unchanged.
How to do it
- Open the Text comparison tool and paste the original text in the first box and the changed one in the second.
- Choose the comparison level: lines, words or characters, and ignore case or whitespace if needed.
- Press “Compare”, and choose the unified or side-by-side view.
- Read the summary, then copy or download the result.
Lines, words or characters?
Lines are for long texts such as contracts and policies, and they are the fastest. Words are for seeing which word changed inside a single paragraph. Characters are for very short texts, like a product title or a discount code.
What to know
- Matching is literal: a word with Arabic diacritics differs from the bare word, and “أ” differs from “ا”.
- If lots of differences come from extra spaces only, clean both texts first with the Whitespace cleaner, or turn on ignore whitespace.
- Line comparison was tested on two texts of 100,000 lines and took about a second.
- Character comparison suits short texts. If two large texts are very different, it stops after 2.5 seconds and shows a message instead of a partial result.
If you want the length of the new text in words and characters, use the Word and character counter.
Common questions
Does it work with Arabic text?
Yes, and every line is shown in its own direction, whether Arabic or English.
Is my text sent to a server?
No, the comparison runs inside your browser, which matters for contracts and private documents.
Why does a modified line show as a removal and an addition?
A line counts as modified when it shares at least half of its words with the old line. Otherwise it shows as a separate removal and addition.