Capability overview
How can I use finder, file explorer, links, and applescript in Diff Anything?
On a Mac, open files with Finder's Open With, drop them on the Dock icon, or choose Compare with Diff Anything under Quick Actions or Services; Compare Selected Text with Diff Anything compares text selected in another app. On Windows, the Microsoft Store version adds Compare with Diff Anything to the File Explorer context menu. Two selected items are compared at once, and one item waits for the other side. diffanything:// links open comparisons of files, folders, or texts from other apps and scripts on Mac and Windows, and AppleScript on a Mac compares files and reads the front comparison's difference counts.
These ways in are free, and what they open goes into a new tab, read-only. The Mac App Store version cannot read file paths that a link names, so it asks you to choose the files; links that compare two texts work in every version. In AppleScript, the open command hands files to the Mac App Store version, while compare with a path needs a file the app is allowed to read.
On a Mac
Finder, the Dock, and services
Select two files or folders in Finder and choose Compare with Diff Anything under Quick Actions or Services, use Open With, or drop them on the Dock icon. Two items are compared in the order given, in a new tab if the current one is in use. One item opens as the original and waits for the other side: the next item you hand over, or choose in the window, becomes the updated version, until Cancel waiting or Escape.
Compare Selected Text with Diff Anything works on text selected in any app and opens it as pasted text on the next empty side. Both services can be turned off in System Settings, under Keyboard Shortcuts. Diff Anything never makes itself the default app for any file type.
On Windows
The File Explorer context menu
The Microsoft Store version adds Compare with Diff Anything to the File Explorer context menu for files and folders, in the Windows 11 menu and under Show more options. With two items selected it compares them; with one it opens it as the original, ready for the next. File Explorer does not say which item was selected first, so use Swap if the sides land the other way round.
Links and scripts
diffanything:// links and AppleScript
Other apps, scripts, and Shortcuts can open comparisons through diffanything:// links on Mac and Windows: diffanything://compare with two paths and an optional comparison type, diffanything://compare-text with two texts, diffanything://open with one path, and diffanything://new for an empty tab. On a Mac, AppleScript compares files, folders, or texts and reads the front comparison's status and its total, added, removed, and changed counts.
What these open goes into a new tab, read-only: nothing is saved, applied, or exported, and settings do not change. At most 5 requests a second and 30 a minute are acted on, and network locations are refused.
Mac App Store version
What the sandboxed Mac version can read
The Mac App Store version runs in Apple's App Sandbox. Finder, the Dock, the services, and AppleScript's open command hand it the files, so they work as described. A link or AppleScript compare command that names a path is different: the app cannot read that path, so it offers Choose Files… in the folder the link named, or the script gets an error that says to use open. Links that compare two texts work in every version.
All of these ways in are free. A comparison they open is free or Pro as it would be when opened in the window, with the same daily free comparisons.
In the workflow
How to use it
Select the files
Select two files or folders in Finder or File Explorer.
Choose Compare with Diff Anything
Use the Quick Actions or Services menu on a Mac, or the context menu on Windows.
Or hand over one at a time
Open one item; it waits for the next one as the other side.
Automate it
Use diffanything:// links, or AppleScript on a Mac, from your scripts and Shortcuts.
Useful in practice
When to use it
Related manual
Choose the right comparison mode
Choose sources, understand automatic detection, and select the engine that answers the question you are actually asking.
Read the guideDirect answers
Questions about finder, file explorer, links, and applescript.
Can I compare two files from the Finder?
Yes. Select them and choose Compare with Diff Anything under Quick Actions or Services, or drop them on the Dock icon.
Is there a File Explorer context menu command?
Yes. The Microsoft Store version adds Compare with Diff Anything for files and folders.
Can a script open a comparison?
Yes. Use a diffanything:// link on Mac or Windows, or AppleScript on a Mac. The Mac App Store version asks you to choose files when a link names a path.
Do these need Pro?
No. They are free; what they open is free or Pro as it would be in the window.
Free & Pro: what’s included
Available on the Mac App Store and Microsoft Store. Free desktop use lets you try every comparison engine for files up to 5 MiB per side and 10 new comparison sessions per local day; collection previews show the first 100 items, binary comparisons the first 100 byte differences, and PDF previews the first 3 pages. Plain text, JSON, and Jupyter notebook comparison are complete, and opening files from Finder or File Explorer, diffanything:// links, and AppleScript are free. The free CLI supports text, JSON, and notebooks. A one-time Pro purchase removes the preview and session limits and unlocks larger sources within technical limits, saved profiles and history, saving folder snapshots, report export and printing, JSON Patch export, applying patches, three-way merge and conflict resolution, the Git merge driver and merge tool, folder synchronization, batch manifests, trusted preprocessors, and every CLI mode.