The Text Diff Checker compares two blocks of text, highlights added and removed lines, and produces a unified patch you can paste into tickets or pull requests. It keeps line numbers aligned so reviewers can jump directly to the changes that matter.
Code and config reviews
Paste snippets from two commits or deployment templates to see exactly which lines changed before shipping.
Changelogs and release notes
Compare draft notes or policy updates side-by-side, then copy the patch into tickets or status pages.
Support + incident triage
Diff customer messages or log excerpts to isolate the minimal change that triggered an alert.
Quick start
- Open the Text Diff Checker and paste your older text into the “Original” panel and the updated draft into “Modified.”
- Choose whether to ignore case differences or trim trailing whitespace, then submit to generate the side-by-side view.
- Copy the unified patch for tickets or PRs, or skim the summary cards to quantify how many lines changed.
Supported inputs
- Handles plaintext, Markdown, code snippets, and config files up to several thousand lines.
- Normalizes Windows, macOS, and Unix line endings before comparison.
- Optional trimming removes trailing spaces; keep it off for indentation-sensitive files.
Diff controls
The diff runs server-side, so large payloads and mixed encodings stay consistent. Use the toggles to reduce noise:
- Ignore case treats uppercase and lowercase characters as equal—useful for prose and customer messages.
- Trim trailing whitespace removes end-of-line spaces to prevent cosmetic changes from crowding the diff.
- Line endings are normalized (Windows, macOS, Unix) before comparison to avoid phantom changes across environments.
Detailed walkthroughs
Side-by-side review
- Paste the baseline content on the left and the updated content on the right.
- Leave “Trim trailing whitespace” on to avoid noise from stray spaces.
- Submit the form and scroll the side-by-side grid to inspect added and removed lines with numbering.
Whitespace-aware diff
- Toggle “Trim trailing whitespace” off when indentation or trailing spaces matter (YAML, Markdown lists, or Makefiles).
- Keep “Ignore case” off for case-sensitive code, or enable it when comparing prose.
- Re-run the diff to see whether differences are purely cosmetic.
Patch sharing
- After generating a diff, scroll to the Patch output card.
- Click “Copy patch” to grab a unified diff with matching line numbers.
- Paste the patch into tickets, PR comments, or chat without uploading files.
Outputs
- Side-by-side grid shows added (green) and removed (red) lines with matching line numbers.
- Summary cards call out added, removed, unchanged counts, plus a similarity score for quick scans.
- Patch output card provides a unified diff that mirrors the line numbers shown in the viewer.
Feature deep-dives
- Side-by-side grid highlights added lines in green and removed lines in red, with line numbers matching the patch output.
- Similarity score and line counts summarize how much changed before you dive into the details.
- Whitespace controls normalize trailing spaces and line endings so diffs stay focused on meaningful edits.
Field notes / Pro tips
- Place older content on the left to keep numbering consistent with the “Original/Modified” headers.
- Enable case-insensitive mode for prose or customer messages; keep it off for code, configs, and identifiers.
- Share the patch output in tickets instead of screenshots so reviewers can search and copy relevant lines.
- Pair the diff checker with Counting + Stats or Whitespace Utilities when cleaning up drafts before publishing.
Keep this guide handy while reviewing updates. Jump back to the documentation hub or reopen the Text Diff Checker from the “View documentation” link inside the tool hero.