Description
Two people edited the same file and now the merge is a wall of conflict markers, with no obvious way to tell who changed which line. KDiff3 lays two or even three files side by side, highlights every difference and lets you pick a side per conflict with one click, so you never hand-delete <<<<<<< markers again.
What sets it apart is comparing three files or three folders at once. Feed it the common ancestor and it can tell one-sided edits from real conflicts, merging most of them on its own. Folder comparison lists missing and changed files too, a quick sanity pass before syncing directories.
Three-way merge: Base version plus two branches, and you only touch the real conflicts.
Folder comparison: Recursively compares two or three directories and flags added, missing and changed files.
Inline highlighting: Shows not just which line differs but which characters changed inside it.
Binary comparison: Non-text files can be compared byte by byte.
Ignore rules: Whitespace, case and comment changes can be ignored so formatting noise does not bury the real edits.
Free and open source, maintained by the KDE community.
What sets it apart is comparing three files or three folders at once. Feed it the common ancestor and it can tell one-sided edits from real conflicts, merging most of them on its own. Folder comparison lists missing and changed files too, a quick sanity pass before syncing directories.
Features
Three-way merge: Base version plus two branches, and you only touch the real conflicts.
Folder comparison: Recursively compares two or three directories and flags added, missing and changed files.
Inline highlighting: Shows not just which line differs but which characters changed inside it.
Binary comparison: Non-text files can be compared byte by byte.
Ignore rules: Whitespace, case and comment changes can be ignored so formatting noise does not bury the real edits.
Free and open source, maintained by the KDE community.
