diff

all

Compare files and directories. See also: `delta`, `difft`.

More info →

Subcommands (1)

diff-pdf

Compare two PDFs.

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Options (8)

-w, --ignore-all-spaceboolean

Compare files, ignoring white spaces

Example: diff {{[-w|--ignore-all-space]}} {{path/to/old_file}} {{path/to/new_file}}

-y, --side-by-sideboolean

Compare files, showing the differences side by side

Example: diff {{[-y|--side-by-side]}} {{path/to/old_file}} {{path/to/new_file}}

-u, --unifiedboolean

Compare files, showing the differences in unified format (as used by `git diff`)

Example: diff {{[-u|--unified]}} {{path/to/old_file}} {{path/to/new_file}}

-r, --recursiveboolean

Compare directories recursively (shows names for differing files/directories as well as changes made to files)

Example: diff {{[-r|--recursive]}} {{path/to/old_directory}} {{path/to/new_directory}}

-q, --briefboolean

Compare directories, only showing the names of files that differ

Example: diff {{[-r|--recursive]}} {{[-q|--brief]}} {{path/to/old_directory}} {{path/to/new_directory}}

-a, --textboolean

Create a patch file for Git from the differences of two text files, treating nonexistent files as empty

Example:

diff {{[-a|--text]}} {{[-u|--unified]}} {{[-N|--new-file]}} {{path/to/old_file}} {{path/to/new_file}} > {{path/to/diff.patch}}

-N, --new-fileboolean

Create a patch file for Git from the differences of two text files, treating nonexistent files as empty

Example:

diff {{[-a|--text]}} {{[-u|--unified]}} {{[-N|--new-file]}} {{path/to/old_file}} {{path/to/new_file}} > {{path/to/diff.patch}}

-d, --minimalboolean

Compare files, showing output in color, trying hard to find the smallest set of changes

Example: diff {{[-d|--minimal]}} --color=always {{path/to/old_file}} {{path/to/new_file}}

Examples (8)

Compare files (lists changes to turn `old_file` into `new_file`)

diff path/to/old_file path/to/new_file

Compare files, ignoring white spaces

diff [-w|--ignore-all-space] path/to/old_file path/to/new_file

Compare files, showing the differences side by side

diff [-y|--side-by-side] path/to/old_file path/to/new_file

Compare files, showing the differences in unified format (as used by `git diff`)

diff [-u|--unified] path/to/old_file path/to/new_file

Compare directories recursively (shows names for differing files/directories as well as changes made to files)

diff [-r|--recursive] path/to/old_directory path/to/new_directory

Compare directories, only showing the names of files that differ

diff [-r|--recursive] [-q|--brief] path/to/old_directory path/to/new_directory

Create a patch file for Git from the differences of two text files, treating nonexistent files as empty

diff [-a|--text] [-u|--unified] [-N|--new-file] path/to/old_file path/to/new_file > path/to/diff.patch

Compare files, showing output in color, trying hard to find the smallest set of changes

diff [-d|--minimal] --color=always path/to/old_file path/to/new_file

made by @shridhargupta | data from tldr-pages