Compare Files, Folders
Beyond Compare allows you to quickly and easily compare your files and folders. By using simple, powerful commands you can focus on the differences you're interested in and ignore those you're not. You can then merge the changes, synchronize your files, and generate reports for your records.
You can compare entire drives and folders at high speed, checking just sizes and modified times. Or, thoroughly verify every file with byte-by-byte comparisons. FTP sites and zip files are integrated seamlessly, so you can update your website with the touch of a button.
Once you've found specific files you're interested in, Beyond Compare can intelligently pick the best way to compare and display them. Text files can be viewed and edited with syntax highlighting and comparison rules tweaked specifically for documents, source code, and HTML. Data files, executables, binary data, and images all have dedicated viewers as well, so you always have a clear view of the changes.
New Features in BC3
Here are some of the significant new features in Beyond Compare 3. Items flagged with Pro only are available in the Pro edition of BC3.
Expanded Session concept
Any comparison can be saved as a session, not just folder comparisons
Plug-ins are now built-in session types
Saved sessions can be organized in folders
Auto-saved sessions
Fully unicode enabled
Unicode filenames now supported as well as unicode file content
Interface Improvements
Tabbed interface for session views
Handy "home" view for launching and managing sessions
Layout of open sessions can be saved, restored
Built-in "Check for updates"
Folder compare features
Folder icons colors now match your preferences
Multiple operations can be queued
File actions now respect filters by default
Dedicated folder sync session
Touch and Attrib commands can now recurse through subfolders
Attrib supports Unix attributes
New Ignored command flags mismatched file as OK
New Move to Folder command
Flatten folders lets you compare differing folder structures
Pro only Alignment overrides
Text comparison features
Full in-pane editor with dynamic re-comparisons
Syntax highlighting
Adaptive gutter buttons for copying sections
Unlimited undo after save
Grammar-based comparison rules
Independent file formats for each side of the comparison
New Ignored command flags mismatched sections as OK
Multiple bookmarks
Hex display option for line details
Pro only 3-way text merge
Pro only Replacements
Improved FTP support
FTP profiles, selectable per session
Multiple simultaneous connections
Pro only Built-in support for secure FTP protocols (SFTP and FTP over SSL)
3-way Merge Pro edition only
Introduced in version 3, Beyond Compare's new merge view allows you to combine changes from two versions of a file into a single output. Its intelligent approach allows you to quickly accept most changes while carefully examining conflicts. Color coding and section highlighting allow you to accept, reject, or combine changes, simply and easily. And, you can change any line in the output with the built-in syntax-highlighting editor. By using Beyond Compare's powerful file type support and ability to favor changes from one file, you can trivially accept many changes without even seeing them.
You can use Beyond Compare directly from most version control systems, giving you all of the powerful comparing and merging support you need when you need it most. Integrated source control commands are also available, allowing you to check in and check out files without interrupting your work.
Synchronize Folders
Beyond Compare's intuitive Folder Sync interface lets you reconcile differences in your data automatically. You can efficiently update your laptop, backup your computer, or manage your website, and Beyond Compare will handle all the details. You can copy to and from disks, FTP servers, and zip files, all using the same interface. Anything you don't want affected can be easily filtered out, and all of the powerful comparison techniques are available, making the backup as fast or robust as you need.
You can automate repetitive tasks using a flexible scripting language, and any script can be called from the command line, allowing you to schedule your syncs for when it's most convenient.
System Requirements for Beyond Compare
Hardware Requirements
Intel Pentium processor; 200 MHz or faster recommended
32 MB RAM; additional memory recommended for large comparisons
15 MB of available hard drive space
Supported Windows Platforms
(All service packs supported unless otherwise noted)
Windows 95 OSR 2 and HTML Help
Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, Windows ME
Windows NT 4.0 SP4 or later
Windows 2000
Windows XP
Windows Server 2003
BC version 2.4 and later:
Windows XP x64
Windows Server 2003 x64
BC version 2.5 and later:
Windows Vista
Windows Vista x64
Windows Server 2008
Windows Server 2008 x64
BC version 3.1.3 and later, BC version 2.5.3:
Windows 7
Windows 7 x64
Internet Explorer 4 or later required
Supported Linux Distributions
Beyond Compare 3 does not run as a console application on Linux. It requires X-Windows.
Supported Linux distributions
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4, 5
Fedora 4 - 14
Novell Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop 10
openSUSE 10.3 - 11.2
Ubuntu 6.06 - 10.04
Debian 5.04
Mandriva 2010
64-bit distributions require 32-bit compatibility libraries. Using the .deb/.rpm packages with apt-get/yum, or your distribution's associated package manager will install them automatically.
Not Compatible
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3