Directory compare shows all files and subdirectries found from compared directories as list. Directory compare allows synchronising directories by copying and deleting files and subdirectories. Directory compare view can be versatile customised.
Directory compare has two different modes. Mode is selected in Open-dialog with "Include Subfolders"-checkbox.
When subfolders are included all subfolders and their contents are compared. Directory compare does not show names for folders that exist in both compared directories, only files in them. If folder does not exist in another side then folder is shown as unique folder.
This mode does not allow browsing folders and can be slow if there are a lot of subfolders and files.
When subfolders are not included only files in selected folders and names of subfolders are shown.
This mode allows browsing folders by opening Subfolders and parent folders. This is biggest benefit of this mode since comparing only one folder at a time is faster to do. Smaller amount of files (and folders) in view is also easier to manage.
During directory compare proceeds, following statepane is shown:
Directory compare can be stopped by selecting "
"-button and results for files and directories compared so far are shown. After directory compare finishes, " " button text is changed to " ". Now statepane can be closed by selecting that button or pressing any key from keyboard.Statepane can be opened from
-menu again if needed. Statuspane always shows current status of compare so it can be used to verify there are no different files left to handle.![]() |
Enable option "Close Compare statepane automatically" and statepane closes automatically after compare is ready. |
Files and directories are compared and divided into several categories:
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
In "
" menu there are several choises for selecting which categories listed above to show/hide.: shows and hides files detected as identical
: shows and hides files detected as different
: shows and hides files and directories present only in left side
: shows and hides files and directories present only in right side
: shows and hides files detected as binaries
: shows and hides files and directories filtered out by file filters
By default these columns are visible:
Filename
Directory : Relative directoryname for compare path. If subdirectories are not included this is empty.
Comparison result : Verbose comparison result (see also Short Result)
Left Date & Right Date: Modification date of item. Note that newer date is prefixed with asterisk "*".
Extension : File's extension, handy for sorting
Following columns are available through "
"-dialog:Binary : Column contains asterisk "*" when file is binary. Handy for sorting and to use with "Short Result"-column.
Left Attributes & Right Attributes : Shows fileattributes.
Left Creation Time & Right Creation Time : Item creation time.
Left Encoding & Right Encoding : File encoding.
Left File Version & Right File Version : Version number from file if present. Note that this is read for only some binary files.
Left Size & Right Size : File size in bytes.
Newer File : Shows which side is newer.
#differences : Amount of total differences found from files.
#sig. differences : Amount of significant differences, total differences - ignored differences.
Browsing folders is only possible when subfolders are not included to compare. Then parent folders (".."-item) and subfolders existing in both sides can be compared by opening them.
Parent folder can be opened if it is not same directory. These two icons indicate if parent folder can be opened:
![]() |
![]() |
In addition moving selection using mouse or keyboard, also
-menu navigation commands, toolbar buttons and shortcut keys can be used. For example " " finds next different file and selects it.![]() |
Unique files and directories are considered as different ones. |
Multiple files/directories can be selected. However not all operations are possible with multi-selection.
Directory compare allows user to copy and delete files and directories. File operations are available through context menu (right-click with mouse). Also files can be opened to associated program or into external editor.
In file operation menu, there are one or two numbers shown, depending on files/folders selected. If there is one number shown, for example "
" that means there is 5 items selected, and all items can be copied. But if there is two numbers shown, for example " ", that means there are 5 items selected but only 3 items can be copied.Most common operation is copying files from side to side. File can be copied from side to side using
-menu items, toolbar buttons and context menu. If multiple files are selected, or file to overwrite is read-only, confirmation dialog is shown.Sometimes it is useful to copy certain files and/or directories to another directory instead of another compared directory. This can be done selecting "
" or " " items.Another file/directory operation is deleting. Items in another or both sides can be deleted. There is "Send deleted files into Recycle Bin" option in system options. Its higly recommended to keep that option enabled so deletion can be undone if accidents happen. Note however recycle bin does not help if its disabled from Windows settings.
Moving is just shortcut for copy + delete.
![]() |
File/directory deletion cannot be undone if recycle bin is not used! |
There are three items in
-menus:: Opens file with application registered handling filetype for Windows, if there is one.
: Open with external editor. Default editor can be selected from options, Notepad is used by default.
Open With..." dialog asking from user with which application files should be opened.
: Opens "Selected items or different items from selection can be added to archive file.
![]() |
Archive support requires that compatible version of 7-zip is installed to system. |
After selecting archive item dialog pops up asking filename and archive type from user.
In context menu there are items for copyging selected items' paths or filenames to clipboard. This feature makes it easy so get list of changed files, for changelogs etc.
has three subchoices like other file handling functions. It copies full pathnames of selected items to clipboard, one per line.
copies only filenames without paths.
There are many ways to customize directory compare:
Sorting by column : Sorted by column can be selected by clicking column name with mouse. Little arrow appears next to column name indicating that results are sorted by this column and sort order.
Selecting visible columns : "Display Columns" dialog can be opened from -menu or by right-clicking column header with mouse.
Changing order of columns : Order can be changed in "Display Columns" dialog or by drag & dropping column names with mouse.
If user wants to protect one or both sides from changes, user can set them to read-only from
-menu.![]() |
Setting read-only protects files and directories in current compare view only. |
Protected status is inherited to opened files from directory compare. If user compares two directories, sets another to protected and opens two files for comparing, file opened from protected side has protection set too.
Protection status is shown in statusbar, there are panes for left and right side.