Beyond Compare is a powerful time-saving utility for comparing files and folders on your Windows system.

Use it to manage source code, keep folders in sync, compare program output, and validate copies of your data.  Beyond Compare can create a snapshot of a live directory structure, and compare it against the live copy at a later date.

Beyond Compare helps you analyze differences in detail and carefully reconcile them.  It commands a wide range of file and text operations, as well as script commands for automating tasks.

• compare text files
• compare folders, zip archives, ftp sites
• update websites
• merge code changes
• compare program output
• and more

Beyond Compare Feature List

Directory Comparison Display

• Compare folders, FTP sites or zip files side-by-side
• Save snapshots for later comparison
• Explorer-like interface
• Expandable subfolders
• Hide folders that don't contribute to comparison
• Color highlighting of differences
• Folders icons color-coded according to contents
• Several display filters:
  • Show all, Just mismatches, Just matches,
  • Two-sided, Two-sided mismatches,
  • Orphans, Older, Newer

• Sort by Name, Type, Date Modified, Size, CRC
• Multi-threaded operation:
  • Folders scanned in background
  • Files compared in background

Session Settings

• Can be saved by name for fast access
• Powerful file and folder filtering
• Highly configurable
• Various criteria for comparing files

Comparison Criteria

• Date modified:
  • Allows for differences in timezone
  • Can ignore FAT 2 second rounding
  • Deals with Daylight Savings problem on networks

• File size
• Attributes
• Binary content comparison
• Rules-based content comparison

File and Folder Operations

• Copy, Move, Delete, Rename, Touch, Change Attributes
• Copy files to alternate folder
• Find filename
• Fast byte-by-byte compare of binary files
• Recursive binary comparison of directory trees

File Viewer Display

• Compare files side-by-side
• Color highlighting of differences
• Thumbnail summary of differences
• Unicode and MBCS support
• Can view HTML as web page
• Handles multiple line termination styles
• "Sync-it-yourself" manual sync override

Text Comparison Rules

• Can ignore minor differences:
  • Case, Whitespace, Comments

• Can ignore certain columns

Editing Functions

• Copy, Delete, or Insert lines
• Edit individual lines

Other Features

• Compare Wizard
• Drag & Drop
• Compare clipboard contents against file, or other contents
• Compare and edit Delphi .DFM files as text
• Spawn external editor and go to line number
• Handles long lines, large files
• Directory Comparison report
• File Differences report
• Output to printer, file or clipboard
• Color printing supported
• Script processor for automating tasks

The Standard Edition of Beyond Compare is a powerful, full-featured comparison tool.  The Pro Edition includes all the Standard features and adds these:

• 3-way text merging
  Compares independent changes against a common ancestor to create new merged content.
• Source control integration
  Adds commands for checking files in or out of SCC-compliant version control systems.
• Built-in SFTP support
  Rather than relying on third-party solutions, BC3 Pro has integrated support for secure FTP protocols (SFTP and FTP over SSL).
• Text replacements
  Lets you flag certain text replacements as unimportant differences in a Text Compare session.  For example, ignore all instances where apple was replaced by orange.
• Folder Compare alignment overrides
  Overrides how files are aligned in a Folder Compare session.  For example, you could compare your .gif files on one side with .png files of the same name on the other side.

In trial mode you can use both Standard and Pro features.  Upon registering, the license key unlocks the appropriate features permanently.

If you choose the Standard Edition license, you can upgrade later to Pro for the difference in price.