Direct answer
Does Diff Anything upload files for comparison?
Diff Anything performs comparison on the computer. Files, folders, images, archives, documents, and structured data are not sent to a cloud comparison service, and the app has no account, analytics, or telemetry. That removes the content-upload step required by an online diff service.
Where comparison runs
Files are compared on your computer.
Online diff checkers ask you to paste or upload the content you want to compare. For contracts, customer exports, credentials, or unreleased code, that step is often not allowed. Diff Anything is a desktop app for Mac and Windows: it reads the files you choose from your disk, and the comparison runs on your computer. Nothing you compare is uploaded.
You do not need an account. The app contains no analytics or telemetry. It contacts the Mac App Store or Microsoft Store only to show the Pro price, handle a purchase, and check whether Pro is unlocked. After Pro has been verified once, it stays unlocked when you work offline.
What is stored
History and profiles stay on the same computer.
With Pro, comparison history and saved profiles are kept on your computer. In Settings, Maximum history entries controls how many unpinned comparisons history keeps, and 0 turns history off; pinned comparisons are always kept. Keep small text snapshots so history can reopen them and Maximum saved snapshot size decide whether file contents are kept with an entry. Clear Unpinned History removes every entry that is not pinned.
A snapshot stores the file text, except for environment files: their snapshots keep the variable names and mask every value before it is stored. Turn snapshots off if history should not keep file contents.
Pasted text is handled the same way as opened files: it is compared in the app and is not sent anywhere. The free plan works the same way, with every comparison mode available for files up to 5 MB and 10 comparisons per day.
Local tools
Normalize files with your own tools instead of an online formatter.
Pro includes Local transform. It sends both text sources through a program installed on your computer, such as jq, xmllint, or black, and compares the output. No shell is used, and the app asks before running the program. Only run tools you trust.
Best for
Where this workflow fits.
- Sensitive configuration and environment files
- Customer data or unreleased release artifacts
- Anyone who needs comparison without creating an account or uploading content
No accounts, cloud comparison service, analytics, or telemetry.
Relevant capabilities
What Diff Anything brings to the job.
Practical workflow
From setup to a reviewed result.
Install from your store
Get Diff Anything from the Mac App Store or Microsoft Store. No account is needed.
Open files from disk
Choose or drop the files you want to compare, or paste text into either side.
Review on your computer
Use the mode that fits the content: text, structured data, spreadsheets, folders, archives, documents, or images.
Export only what you choose
With Pro, save a report to a location you pick, with environment values redacted by default.
Useful in practice
Direct answers
Questions about offline diff tool.
Does Diff Anything upload files for comparison?
Diff Anything performs comparison on the computer. Files, folders, images, archives, documents, and structured data are not sent to a cloud comparison service, and the app has no account, analytics, or telemetry. That removes the content-upload step required by an online diff service.
Does Diff Anything work without an internet connection?
Yes. Comparisons run locally. The app contacts your platform store only for the Pro price, purchases, and entitlement checks, and a verified Pro unlock stays active offline.
Is comparison history saved?
With Pro, history is saved on your computer. Turn off Keep small text snapshots so history can reopen them to keep file contents out of it, and use Clear Unpinned History to remove every entry you have not pinned.
What is in a diagnostics export?
Only the app name, version, operating system, processor architecture, and a timestamp. No file contents or paths.
Go deeper
Understand the local comparison boundary, recover from input and copy problems, and prepare useful diagnostics without exposing sensitive sources.
Read Privacy, safety, and troubleshootingFree & 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 and PDF previews show the first 3 pages. The free CLI supports text and JSON. A one-time Pro purchase removes the preview and session limits and unlocks larger sources within technical limits, saved profiles and history, report export, three-way merge, folder synchronization, batch manifests, trusted preprocessors, and every CLI mode.