It will compare the two files and show the differences between them.After that, click on the Plugins menu, choose the Compare option, and then click on the Compare in the sub-menu.Note: You can also simply drag and drop files to the Notepad++ to open them. You can do it by clicking on the File menu and choosing the Open option, then selecting the files that you want to open. Now open two files that you want to compare.Once the Notepad++ is restarted, the Compare plugin will be installed.Click on the Yes button to approve the action. It will ask you to restart the Notepad++ to install the Compare plugin.Select the plugin and click on the Install button. Search for the Compare plugin in the list of plugins.Click on the Plugins menu in the menu bar and choose the Plugins Admin option.You can also search for Notepad++ through the Windows search feature and open it. Open your Notepad++ by double-clicking on the shortcut.Anyway, follow the below steps to check it out: The compare plugin is limited and may not provide the features that you are looking for in Notepad++. Changed (≠): Most of the lines will be similar but with some changes that are highlighted in a different color.Moved (⇳): The stream that appears once in another file, but in a different location.Deleted (-): The minus sign will show the lines that do not exist in the new file, but are only present in the old file.Added (+): This sign will show the lines that only exist in the new file and not in the old file.Compare plugin will do a comparison through the lines.Ī few of the symbols/signs that you will find for lines after using the compare plugin have different meanings as stated below: If you are using an outdated version of Notepad++, then simply update it or install the Plugin Manager manually. The latest Notepad++ uses Plugin Admin as a plugin manager. However, it is not available by default and you need to download it manually through the plugin manager. There is a specific compare plugin in Notepad++ to compare two files. Compare files in Notepad++ Using the Compare Plugin In this article, we will show you the method through which you can easily compare two files in Notepad++. The compare plugin works better for source code rather than simple text. It shows multiple differences with different colors. Users can compare two files in Notepad++ side by side with a compare plugin. Notepad++ is a free text and code editor for Microsoft Windows operating system.

Notepad++ compare directories