Compare Two Word Documents

Ways to compare two Word documents

You can compare two versions of a document in Word itself, in Google Docs or LibreOffice, with a dedicated comparison service, or with the tool above. They differ in what you need installed, what they cost, and whether the result is a document with tracked changes or a side-by-side view.

How to compare documents in Microsoft Word

Word’s Compare feature is the standard way to compare two versions in Word. On Windows:

1. On the Review tab, in the Compare group, select Compare, then Compare two versions of a document (legal blackline).
2. Under Original document, choose the earlier version. Under Revised document, choose the later one.
3. Select More to choose what to compare (comments, formatting, and text changes) and whether to show changes at the word or character level.
4. Select OK. With Show changes in left on New document (the default), Word opens a new document with the differences as tracked changes and leaves both source files unchanged.

If either file already has tracked changes, Word asks you to accept them before it compares. On a Mac, Microsoft documents the steps for Word 2019 for Mac: Review, Compare, Compare Documents. Compare is not available in Word for the web, where Microsoft suggests opening the file in the desktop app.

Compare or Combine?

Word has a second command, Combine, under the same Compare button. Compare shows what changed between two versions. Combine merges edits from several reviewers’ copies into one document, two copies at a time, and asks for a name to label unmarked changes with. To merge competing drafts with help from AI, see Reconcile Drafts.

How to compare documents in Google Docs

Google Docs has a Compare documents command. Google documents it for files in Google Docs format, so it is simplest to convert .docx files first.

1. Open the document you want as the base.
2. Select Tools, then Compare documents.
3. Select Choose document and pick the other version.
4. In Attribute differences to, enter the name the suggested edits should show, then compare.

Google Docs creates a new document with the differences as suggested edits. Suggestions that already existed in either document are shown as accepted. You need to be an owner or editor of the document to use it.

Google Docs turns Word tracked changes into suggestions when you open a .docx, and suggestions back into tracked changes when you download one, so you can take the comparison back to Word.

How to compare documents in LibreOffice Writer

LibreOffice recommends opening the newer document and comparing it with the older one:

1. Open the newer version in Writer.
2. Choose File, then Compare Document (or Review, Compare in the tabbed interface).
3. Select the older version.

LibreOffice marks insertions and deletions in the open document, and you accept or reject them there. It ignores the contents of footnotes, headers, frames, and fields.

Online and dedicated comparison tools

• Draftable Online compares Word, PDF, Excel, PowerPoint, and text files in the browser with no sign-up, for files up to 10 MB or 300 pages, and shows a redline or side-by-side view you can export as PDF. Files are uploaded to Draftable’s servers. Its paid desktop plans start at $129 per user per year and export tracked changes on the Legal plan.
• Diffchecker compares Word and PDF files side by side for free. Redline output and export as Word tracked changes come with its paid Pro + Desktop plan, from $15 per user per month billed annually.
• Litera Compare compares Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF files, one to one or in bulk, and is aimed at legal teams. Litera’s page asks you to request a demo and doesn’t list a price.
• Adobe Acrobat Pro compares two PDF files and produces a PDF report with a summary and a side-by-side view. Adobe documents it for PDFs, so you would convert Word files first.

Can Copilot compare two documents?

In OneDrive and SharePoint, Compare files with Copilot takes up to five files and describes how they differ in the Copilot panel. It needs a qualifying Microsoft 365 personal plan or a work account with a Copilot license. The documented workflow gives you a written comparison, not tracked changes you can accept or reject one at a time, so it suits a quick overview more than a line-by-line review.

How this comparison works

The tool is free and needs no account. You can upload Word (.docx), OpenDocument (.odt), Rich Text (.rtf), plain text, or Markdown files, or paste the text of either version. It reads both documents in your browser and compares them paragraph by paragraph, then word by word inside paragraphs that changed. A rewritten paragraph is matched to its revision, so you see the words that changed rather than a whole paragraph deleted and another inserted. Formatting changes, such as text that became bold, are marked too.

Like Word, it accepts any tracked changes already in either file before comparing, so you compare the two final texts. Tables and lists that gained or lost items are marked as whole-block changes. The comparison covers the body of the document. Images, headers, footers, footnotes, and page layout come from the revised version without tracked changes, and when they differ the assistant points that out.

The result opens as a new document in Revise: the revised version with every difference as a tracked change. Accepting all changes gives you the revised version and rejecting them all gives you the original. You can export it as a .docx with the changes as Word tracked changes, and the AI assistant can summarize what changed or check the changed passages if you ask it to.