Compare PDF files

Read a revised agreement or report beside the old one before you sign or approve it.

Private: your files never leave this deviceNothing is uploaded or stored on a serverWorks right here in your browser

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Original

Changed

Compare

Add both PDFs to compare them.

How to compare two PDF files

  1. Add both files

    Drop the original PDF in the left box and the changed one in the right box.

  2. Read the changes

    Use the arrows to jump from change to change, switch between side by side and unified, or untick Only changed pages to see everything.

  3. Check visually or save a report

    Switch to Visual to compare a page as pictures, or download the report as HTML or text.

Good to know

  • Differences in spacing and line breaks are ignored, so reflowed text does not show as changed.
  • In Visual, Swipe is the quickest way to spot shifted content: drag the slider across the page.
  • Ctrl+C with nothing selected copies the whole text report.
  • The HTML report opens in any browser and can be sent to someone else as it is.

Questions people ask

How do I compare two PDFs?

Add the original on the left and the changed version on the right. The text comparison runs straight away and lists every page that differs, with removed words in red and added words in green.

What is the difference between Text and Visual?

Text compares the words on each page, so it ignores layout and fonts. Visual draws the same page of both files and marks the pixels that differ, which catches moved images, drawings and formatting.

Does it work on scanned PDFs?

Text needs a text layer, which scans do not have. Use Visual, or run OCR PDF on both files first.

What if the files have a different number of pages?

Pages are compared by position, page 3 with page 3, and extra pages show as only in one file. If a page was inserted near the start, every later page shows changes, so check the page numbers in Visual.

Are my PDF files uploaded?

No. Every step runs inside your browser with the pdf-lib and pdf.js libraries. Files never leave your device, there is no size or count limit beyond your computer's memory, and nothing is stored when you close the tab.

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