AptDiff for Windows

Trying to identify the differences between two text documents full of hundreds of lines of code can be time-consuming and frustrating. Fortunately, there are utilities that can do this work for you, making document comparison both faster and more accurate. AptDiff is an easy-to-use program that can compare both text and binary files and easily identify differences.

The program's interface is plain and intuitive. When AptDiff is opened, a dialog box appears asking users to select the two files that they want to compare. Users simply choose the desired files, and AptDiff will display a side-by-side or top-bottom comparison, highlighting any differences. Users can then merge the documents or cut and copy blocks of text in either one. AptDiff offers plenty of features, including the ability to toggle the files within the interface, launch an external text editor, and make one or both of the files read-only. Although AptDiff does have a search feature of sorts, it only searches for the first, last, next, or previous difference; there doesn't seem to be any way to search for specific text within the files, which could be a drawback for some users. The program comes with a decent Help file that includes instructions for command line use. Overall, AptDiff isn't anything fancy, but it's a quick and intuitive way to compare text files without a bunch of needlessly complex features.

AptDiff comes as a ZIP file. It installs politely but leaves a folder behind when uninstalled. We recommend this program to everyone.