How to Compare Two Files in Notepad++ (2024)

Key Takeaways

  • If Notepad++ doesn't offer a Plugins > Plugins Admin item in the menu bar, download the app installer, run the installer, enable the "Plugins Admin" option, and finish the installation process.
  • Open Notepad++, select Plugins > Plugins Admin, enable "Compare," and click "Install."
  • Launch the app again, open the files to compare, and choose Plugins > Compare > Compare.

If you’re a Notepad++ user and want to highlight differences in your files, use a free plugin with your favorite text editor to do that. In this guide, we’ll show you how to install that plugin and then how to use it.

Step 1. Ensure Notepad++ Has Plugins Admin

To compare files in Notepad++, you’ll use a plugin called Compare. Your Notepad++ installation must have Plugins Admin installed to add this plugin. To check if it does, open the app and see if the menu bar displays a Plugins > Plugins Admin entry. If it doesn’t, follow the following steps to make the app plugin-friendly.

Launch your preferred web browser on your computer and open the Notepad++ website. Download and run the app installer on your computer.

On the installer’s first screen, select "Next." Agree to the terms and conditions by selecting "Agree." Change the installation path if you’d like, then choose "Next."

How to Compare Two Files in Notepad++ (1)

Enable the "Plugins Admin" option in the component list on the "Choose Components" screen. Then, at the bottom, select "Next."

How to Compare Two Files in Notepad++ (2)

On the screen that follows, optionally, enable "Create Shortcut on Desktop" to add the app’s shortcut to your desktop. Then, click "Install."

How to Compare Two Files in Notepad++ (3)

When you’ve installed the app, click "Finish."

Step 2. Install the Compare Plugin Using Plugins Admin

To install the Compare plugin, launch the newly installed Notepad++ app on your computer.

Select Plugins > Plugins Admin from the app's menu bar.

How to Compare Two Files in Notepad++ (4)

Click the "Available" tab at the top of the "Plguns Admin" window. Look for the Plugin section, then find and enable "Compare." Then, in the top-right corner, click "Install" to install the plugin.

If you’d like to add other plugins, enable those plugins’ boxes before clicking "Install."

How to Compare Two Files in Notepad++ (5)

Notepad++ will display a prompt saying the app will relaunch if you install the plugin. If you’ve saved your unsaved work in the app, choose "Yes" in the prompt to allow the app to close and install your plugin.

How to Compare Two Files in Notepad++ (6)

In the "User Account Control" prompt, select "Yes."

Notepad++ will relaunch with the Compare plugin installed.

Step 3. Compare Two Files in Notepad++

Now that you’ve finished adding the Compare plugin, let’s use it to compare your files.

To begin, open both files you want to compare in Notepad++. Do this by choosing File > Open from the menu bar.

How to Compare Two Files in Notepad++ (7)

After opening both files, from the app’s menu bar, select Plugins > Compare > Compare.

The Compare plugin will do its job, which is to start highlighting the differences in your files. You’ll instantly see your files’ differences highlighted.

How to Compare Two Files in Notepad++ (9)

By default, the app shows your files in a vertical view. To change the view to horizontal mode, right-click the border dividing your files and choose "Rotate to Left" or "Rotate to Right."

How to Compare Two Files in Notepad++ (10)

To change the colors used to highlight differences, from the app’s menu bar, select Plugins > Compare > Settings.

How to Compare Two Files in Notepad++ (11)

On the "Compare Plugins" window, in the "Color Settings" section, choose the various colors you’d like to use. Then, click "OK." To revert your changes, choose "Reset."

How to Compare Two Files in Notepad++ (12)

After using the plugin, when you want to close the plugin’s functionality, select Plugins > Compare > Clear All Compares from the menu bar.

How to Compare Two Files in Notepad++ (13)

And that’s how you quickly know the difference between two files using a free and open-source app on your computer. Notepad++ is a great plain text editor, and it can natively do all sorts of useful things besides compare files, like replace specific characters with new lines. It shines even more when you start adding plugins.

  • Windows
  • Notepad++
  • Windows 11

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How to Compare Two Files in Notepad++ (2024)

FAQs

How to Compare Two Files in Notepad++? ›

Do this by choosing File > Open from the menu bar. After opening both files, from the app's menu bar, select Plugins > Compare > Compare. The Compare plugin will do its job, which is to start highlighting the differences in your files.

How do I compare data in two files in Notepad++? ›

Using Notepad++ and Compare Plugin for Data Comparison
  1. Open Data Files: Launch Notepad++. Open both data files ( data_file_1. ...
  2. Initiate Comparison: With both files open, navigate to Plugins > Compare > Compare.
  3. Review Comparison Results: Notepad++ will highlight the differences between the two files.
Jun 26, 2024

How to compare in Notepad++ without a plugin? ›

Compare the two files, select View | Diff Context | 0 Lines and you will see only the lines that are different.

What is the shortcut for compare files in Notepad++? ›

Tip: Also, you can press Ctrl + O keys or simply drag and drop files to the interface of Notepad++ to open them. Step 2. Click on the Plugins menu and select Compare from the context menu, and then click on Compare from the sub-menu.

How can I compare two text files for differences? ›

Use the diff checker to compare code files for debugging or compare creative text files to ensure you avoid plagiarism or duplicate content. A text diff tool automatically highlights any detected text difference, making fixing any errors in your text documents much easier.

What is the comparison plugin for Notepad++? ›

ComparePlus is a plugin for Notepad++ that allows the user to: Compare two files and show differences side by side. Compare only parts (selections) of two files. Find unique lines between two files.

How do I add a compare function in Notepad++? ›

The Compare plugin is included in Plugins Admin, and you can easily install it from there:
  1. Launch Notepad++.
  2. Navigate to Plugins > Plugins Admin.
  3. In the Plugins Admin window, type Compare in the search bar.
  4. Check Compare, then click Install.

How to come out of compare mode in Notepad++? ›

If you want to go back to the original once you are done comparing, then you either use Plugins > ComparePlus > Clear Active Compares or the equivalent button (the one with the X on it, two to the right of the one where I drew the red arrow above), and it will go back to having no “Compare” highlighting and both be in ...

How do you compare two files in Windows? ›

In Solution Explorer, select two files (use Ctrl-click to select), you can right-click and choose Compare Selected to open the diff view with just those two files. Or, right-click on one of the files you want to compare and choose Compare With.... The Open File dialog appears.

What is Ctrl D in Notepad++? ›

Ctrl+D (or another shortcut) to clone the cursor at similar occurences of the current word or selection.

What does Ctrl W do in Notepad++? ›

That's a select-all, delete everything which empties the tab, and Ctrl+W closes it. Notepad++ already has a special case where when close an empty New ### tab that it does a silent close without prompting.

How to add a plugin in Notepad++? ›

Install plugin using Settings > Import > Import plugin(s)

Note: To clarify, this only imports a single DLL file. If your plugin has other config files or documentation files or additional DLLs or resource files, this method will not put those files in the right place, and then the plugin will not fully function.

How to use Notepad++ to compare files? ›

Do this by choosing File > Open from the menu bar. After opening both files, from the app's menu bar, select Plugins > Compare > Compare. The Compare plugin will do its job, which is to start highlighting the differences in your files.

What is the best way to compare two data files? ›

One common approach is to use statistical tests to compare the distributions of different features in the two datasets. For example, you could use a t-test to compare the mean values of a particular feature in the two datasets or a chi-squared test to compare the proportions of different categories in the two datasets.

How do I compare two documents to see differences? ›

Compare two versions of a document
  1. Open one of the two versions of the document that you want to compare.
  2. On the Review menu, select Compare Documents.
  3. In the Original document list, select the original document.
  4. In the Revised document list, browse to the other version of the document, and then select OK.

How do I compare duplicates in Notepad++? ›

To enable the regular expression search, select the “Regular expression” option in the “Search mode” section of the “Find” dialogue box. Click the “Find All” button to search for duplicate lines in your document. Notepad++ will highlight all the duplicate lines in your code, making it easy to identify and remove them.

How to compare two notepad files online? ›

All you have to do is paste two sets of text, one on the left box and another on the right. After that, go ahead and click the Compare button. The tool will then mark the text differences and return a percentage of similarity.

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