Text Diff Viewer — About

Dive deeper into how the Text Diff Viewer works, its privacy posture, and when to rely on unified patches.

Key points

People-first explanations

This guide covers what the tool does, how to select the right diff mode, and how share links encode your current state.

On-device processing

Diffs run entirely in your browser. Text never leaves the page unless you copy or download the patch yourself.

Limitations and tips

We outline performance expectations, when to toggle whitespace handling, and how to avoid leaking sensitive content.

The Text Diff Viewer is designed for product managers, developers, and editors who need fast visual comparisons without opening a terminal. It supports side-by-side review, unified patch export, and shareable URLs that recreate your current session.

Key capabilities

Three diff modes (line, word, character) suited for different document types.
Whitespace and case toggles to suppress noisy changes while you review.
Unified diff export compatible with git tooling and review systems.
Client-side processing so drafts remain private until you share them.

Performance profile

Browsers comfortably diff documents with thousands of lines, and the scrollable preview panes keep navigation responsive. For extraordinarily large files switch to a desktop diff utility to avoid memory pressure.

Roadmap callouts

Future iterations may add syntax-aware highlighting, inline commenting, and the ability to import `.patch` files for reverse comparisons. Feedback on additional toggles or export targets is always welcome.

Ads disabled until consent granted.

How to use this tool

Step 1
What the tool does
It compares two versions of text with configurable granularity, highlights additions and deletions, and exports a unified patch when you are ready to share.
Step 2
How to use it effectively
Paste both versions, select a diff mode, and toggle whitespace or case handling. Copy the patch or send a share link once the results look right.
Step 3
Limitations to keep in mind
Avoid sharing secrets through the URL or exported patch. If the file is extremely large consider splitting it or using a local CLI diff for best performance.

Frequently asked questions

What inputs work best?: The viewer excels at plain text, Markdown, source files, and copy decks. It can handle around ten thousand lines before browsers slow down. Huge binaries are better compared with dedicated tools.
How does the ignore whitespace toggle behave?: When enabled we coalesce whitespace-only edits so the diff focuses on substantive content changes. Disable it when formatting differences matter, such as in YAML or Markdown tables.
Is the unified patch compatible with git?: Yes. Downloaded patches follow the unified diff format and can be applied with `git apply` or reviewed in most code collaboration platforms.

Share links include base64url-encoded text. Remove sensitive content before sending links externally and review patches to ensure they omit confidential information.