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difft — Compare files or directories based on the syntax of the programming language. See also: `delta`, `di

Submitted by: @import:tldr-pages·Mar 2, 2026·

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Problem

How to use the difft command: Compare files or directories based on the syntax of the programming language. See also: delta, diff. More information: <https://difftastic.wilfred.me.uk/introduction.html>.

Solution

difft — Compare files or directories based on the syntax of the programming language. See also: delta, diff. More information: <https://difftastic.wilfred.me.uk/introduction.html>.

Compare two files or directories:

difft {{path/to/file_or_directory1}} {{path/to/file_or_directory2}}

Only report the presence of differences between the files:

difft --check-only {{path/to/file1}} {{path/to/file2}}

Specify the display mode (default is side-by-side):

difft --display {{side-by-side|side-by-side-show-both|inline|json}} {{path/to/file1}} {{path/to/file2}}

Ignore comments when comparing:

difft --ignore-comments {{path/to/file1}} {{path/to/file2}}

Enable/Disable syntax highlighting of source code (default is on):

difft --syntax-highlight {{on|off}} {{path/to/file1}} {{path/to/file2}}

Do not output anything at all if there are no differences between files:

difft --skip-unchanged {{path/to/file_or_directory1}} {{path/to/file_or_directory2}}

Print all programming languages supported by the tool, along with their extensions:

difft --list-languages

Code Snippets

Compare two files or directories

difft {{path/to/file_or_directory1}} {{path/to/file_or_directory2}}

Only report the presence of differences between the files

difft --check-only {{path/to/file1}} {{path/to/file2}}

Specify the display mode (default is `side-by-side`)

difft --display {{side-by-side|side-by-side-show-both|inline|json}} {{path/to/file1}} {{path/to/file2}}

Ignore comments when comparing

difft --ignore-comments {{path/to/file1}} {{path/to/file2}}

Enable/Disable syntax highlighting of source code (default is `on`)

difft --syntax-highlight {{on|off}} {{path/to/file1}} {{path/to/file2}}

Context

tldr-pages: common/difft

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