Compare Two PDF Files

Load an original and a revised PDF to see what changed. Pages are shown side by side with synchronized scrolling, changed areas are outlined, extracted text is compared word by word, and a report can be downloaded.

Drag & drop two PDFs here

The first is treated as the original, the second as the revision

PDF

Overview

What is Compare PDF?

Compare PDF shows what changed between two versions of a PDF. Load the original and the revision. The tool lines up the pages, outlines areas that look different, and lists the words that were added or removed.

It runs two kinds of comparison at once. The visual comparison draws both pages and marks every spot where they differ, so it catches moved logos, changed images, new stamps and different line spacing. The text comparison takes the words out of each page and compares them one by one, so a changed figure such as 1,200 → 1,500 is shown exactly, even when it is too small to spot by eye.

How it works

How to compare two PDFs

  1. Add both files

    Drop two PDFs at once, or one after the other. The first is the original (A), the second the revision (B).

  2. Jump to changes

    The tool opens on the first changed page. "Next change" skips pages that did not change.

  3. Inspect

    View the pages side by side with synchronized scrolling, or switch to the difference overlay.

  4. Download a report

    Save an HTML report listing the changed pages and the word-level changes.

Examples

Examples: how changes are reported

Change between versions Text comparison Visual comparison
Fee changed from 1,200 to 1,500 1,200 1,500 Region around the number
New logo or stamp No change (images have no text) Region around the image
Paragraph reflowed, same words No change Regions where the lines moved
Extra appendix page in B Page reported as "only in B"
Scanned versions Not available (no text) Works, but small alignment shifts between scans show as changes

Reading the overlay

Teal for added, gold for removed

In overlay mode, the revised page is shown faded. Pixels that are darker in B than in A are painted teal, which means content that is new or moved there. Pixels that were darker in A are painted gold, which means content that was removed or moved away. A moved item shows both colours: gold where it used to be, teal where it is now.

In side-by-side mode, changed areas on the B page are outlined in gold. Sync keeps both panes on the same page and scroll position. Turn it off and set a page offset when B has extra pages at the start.

Teal
Present in B, not in A.
Gold
Present in A, not in B.
Faded grey
Unchanged content of page B.

Use cases

Use cases

Contracts and agreements

When a counterparty sends back a "final" version, check whether anything changed beyond the points you agreed.

v3.pdf vs v4.pdf pages 2, 7 changed

Design proofs

Make sure a printer's proof matches the approved artwork, including logos and colours that have no text.

approved vs proof 1 visual region

Policies and specifications

Hand reviewers a report of every word added or removed between two releases.

+42 / −17 words report.html

Sensitivity

Why tiny changes still show up

The visual comparison is pixel-exact at the zoom level used. It ignores faint anti-aliasing noise, but anything darker or lighter than that is counted. A heading nudged by one point, a slightly different font, or a re-exported image will therefore appear as a change, even if a person would call the pages the same.

The footer under the pages shows how much of the page changed, as a percentage of its area, and how many separate regions were found. A value like 0.02% in a single small region is usually a minor rendering difference. Several regions covering a few percent normally mean a real edit worth checking.

Tips

Tips

  • Load the older file first, so "added" and "removed" read the right way round. Use "Swap A and B" if needed.
  • If a page was inserted near the start, turn Sync off and set a page offset, so later pages line up.
  • For scans, expect small shifts to show as changes. Use the text panel only if both files have OCR text.

Limitations

Limitations

Not a semantic comparison

Words are compared literally. A sentence reworded with the same meaning shows as removed and added text.

Page-by-page matching

Page 1 is compared with page 1, and so on. Inserted pages shift everything after them unless you set an offset.

Highlights only while synced

Changed regions are calculated for matching page numbers, so they are hidden when an offset is set.

Privacy

Privacy

Both PDFs are rendered and compared in your browser. Neither file is uploaded to TryFormatter. The report is generated locally too.

Related tools

Related tools

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Compare PDF understand what a change means?

No. It reports differences in pixels and in the extracted words. It does not judge whether a change is important or whether two wordings mean the same thing.

Can I compare scanned PDFs?

Visually, yes. Text comparison needs real text, so scans need OCR first. Two scans of the same paper are rarely aligned exactly, so expect small shifts to show up as changes.

What happens if the two files have a different number of pages?

Pages are compared in order, and the extra pages are reported as existing only in A or only in B. If pages were inserted near the start, turn Sync off and set a page offset to line up the rest.

What is in the downloadable report?

An HTML page listing both file names and page counts, the changed pages, word counts added and removed, and for every changed page the text with insertions and deletions marked. It opens in any browser.

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