Tool to compare directories (Windows 7)

Question

Due to some SVN movement I got disconnected from SVN while I was in middle of a fairly large enhancement.

Now I have my current workspace (with changes and disconnected from SVN) and new workspace (latest from SVN).

I need to manually update the new workspace with the changes so I could check them in.

So I am looking out for a tool that can let me compare the two workspaces, tell for new files and folders and also updated files.

Does a tool like this exist? If so, could you recommend a good one?

I use this one http://winmerge.org, it is free and works pretty well — richardtz, Jan 03 '13 at 12:23
@richardtz : I know winmerge, but I have used it only for comparing files. Does it let you compare directories? — Mukul Goel, Jan 03 '13 at 12:23
http://www.scootersoftware.com/ This is by far the cadillac of comparison tools! — Sébastien Richer, Jan 06 '15 at 15:38
KDiff3 works awesome! http://www.softpedia.com/get/Office-tools/Text-editors/KDiff3.shtml — pistachiobk, Sep 30 '15 at 20:47
@richardtz thank you Rich - would you know where/how i can get a safe download, because I'd hate to get an internet transmitted disease? — BKSpurgeon, Feb 12 '16 at 05:24
I just downloaded the file and installed it. I cannot be 100% sure, but it doesn't apperar to contain any "disease" (filename : WinMerge-2.14.0-Setup.exe) — richardtz, Feb 12 '16 at 09:31
This question is on-topic at Software Recommendations: http://softwarerecs.stackexchange.com/questions/3294/windows-software-required-to-compare-2-folders-through-the-tree-to-the-leafs — Nicolas Raoul, Apr 25 '16 at 08:56
You can use tree command to export the directory structure in a text file. then compare the text files in the ide to check how folder differs. Since question was closed not able to write my answer. Syntax - tree "your directory to which you need to export its structure" /F /A > "directory where to place text file/directory-structure.txt" — Mohan Ram, Feb 01 '18 at 07:56

richardtz · Accepted Answer · 2015-01-19T08:28:52.617

211

I use WinMerge. It is free and works pretty well (works for files and directories).

edited Jan 19 '15 at 08:28

answered Jan 03 '13 at 12:30

richardtz

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Also FreeFileSync http://freefilesync.sourceforge.net/ – danpop Jan 27 '14 at 14:01
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The problem with WinMerge is that the downloads are hosted on SourceForge which cannot be trusted anymore. One of the many articles describing their fall from grace: http://www.howtogeek.com/218764/warning-don%E2%80%99t-download-software-from-sourceforge-if-you-can-help-it/ – Pooks Aug 25 '15 at 07:43
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The problem with WinMerge is that it doesn't do recursive comparison on folders and you have to check each subdirectory manually. This is not easy when dealing with complex folder structures. A *far* better tool I have just found is CodeCompare: https://www.devart.com/codecompare/download.html. It has a free license and -from what I have seen- it is amazing, even when using the free license. There is also "Beyond Compare" that is 100% paid. – NoOne Sep 16 '15 at 21:02
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WinMerge (currently) doesn't handle paths more than 255 chars. It results in buffer overrun error. So if you are a Visual Studio or NodeJS developer, this tool is not so useful. – Mrchief Dec 31 '15 at 20:24
I read the article about SourceForge. What a shame. I did what they suggested and went to https://ninite.com/ to download WinMerge, the Ninite installer was just one click, WinMerge installed. No hidden junk. Thanks for the recommendation for WinMerge, I really needed that, not unconstructive or constructive. I'm glad this didn't get deleted. – pixelmeow Mar 20 '16 at 21:03
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I just added a [**new answer**](http://softwarerecs.stackexchange.com/questions/3294/windows-software-required-to-compare-2-folders-through-the-tree-to-the-leafs/34080#34080) relevant to this question at SoftwareRecs.SE per @NicolasRaoul comment above. It works for both local folders and network fileshares and uses a free Microsoft command line utility which is *included* in Windows Vista and up. – O.M.Y. Jun 22 '16 at 11:25
WinMerge does not recurse through subdirectories. – Eddie Sullivan Jul 27 '16 at 21:50
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WinMerge 2.14.0 has a checkbox to compare subdirectories. I just used it to compare my backup Tomcat install and it worked. – Noumenon Jan 29 '17 at 16:54
CodeCompare is much better than WinMerge. Especially if you have multiple folders. WinMerge is not great with recursive stuff. Oh by the way get the CodeCompare Free version and it will do just fine for comparison and merging purposes. – Abe Mar 15 '17 at 16:11
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WinMerge does not work on right click anymore in Windows >7 (Windows 10) – serge Jun 06 '17 at 09:52
Have to call out the comment by NoOne recommending CodeCompare at devart.com/codecompare/download.html - free license, compare folder hierarchy, then launch file comparison from there. Within file comparison you can replace content in either direction or insert before or after. Plenty more features for a team-based dev environment too. For a free licence, this wins. – youcantryreachingme Jul 12 '18 at 02:26

score 17 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 03 '13 at 12:28

The tool that richardtz suggests is excellent.

Another one that is amazing and comes with a 30 day free trial is Araxis Merge. This one does a 3 way merge and is much more feature complete than winmerge, but it is a commercial product.

You might also like to check out Scott Hanselman's developer tool list, which mentions a couple more in addition to winmerge

Tool to compare directories (Windows 7)

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