UltraCompare feature list

This is a list of all features in the application, grouped by category. Click on a category to jump to those features.

UltraCompare Lite users: Most of these features are not available in UltraCompare Lite. See UltraCompare Lite features, or see the difference between UltraCompare Professional and Lite.

Text compare features

  • Large file support for comparison of files several GB large
    • (Note: UltraCompare does include a memory threshold limitation so as not to consume all of the free RAM on your system. This threshold is based upon a variety of factors but ultimately is determined by the amount of memory required to complete the compare versus the amount of free memory on your system.)
  • Powerful three way text file compare
  • Windows File Explorer shell integration (right-click menu in Windows File Explorer)
  • Ability to edit text lines and merge within UltraCompare
    • Changes can either be saved or merged to other file
    • Changed lines are highlighted until they are saved
  • Download webpage or web file for text compare by typing its URL into the file address bar
  • Manually re-sync two lines and begin the compare from those chosen lines
  • Highlight differences by:
    • character
    • word
    • line
  • Ignore options:
    • Ignore case
    • Ignore whitespace
    • Ignore blank lines
    • Line terminator differences
    • Lines which begin with, contain, or end with <string>
    • All text between <string1> and <string2>
    • A defined number of lines at the beginning or end of file
  • Copy/paste multiple selected contiguous lines to clipboard
  • Copy compare frame to clipboard
  • Ability to compare whitespace differences between text files (tabs and spaces)
  • Inline editing of text files
  • Full Unicode support
    • Load files with Unicode file paths/names
    • Display and diff Unicode/UTF-8 data
  • Configurable logical line matching – adjust how many lines UltraCompare will scan to try to match up similar blocks of text
  • Set tab value to a specific number of spaces (like UltraEdit/UEStudio)
  • Compare column ranges of data
    • Set column range(s) to be compared or ignored
  • Ability to compare text snippets, including ability to:
    • Paste text into blank compare frames
    • Clear compare frames (temp files are automatically deleted)
    • Merge and save compare results as a separate file
  • Bookmark support
  • Word wrap support
  • Edit files directly in compare frames
  • Differences map (scaled or scrollable) to quickly see differences locations
  • Line-by-line compare of individual text files
  • Relational lines mode – draws lines between compare frames showing which blocks of text match up between files
  • Active line window shows active lines from both files with option to edit
  • Status bar shows number of lines/blocks with differences
  • Dockable “Legend & Filters” pane provides quick reference to compare symbols and colors, plus quick access to compare filters
  • Display line number and column number in the status bar
  • Compare difference summary includes:
    • data in source but not in destination file (or vice versa)
    • character differences between files on the same line
  • Launch folder compare or text compare from command line
  • EBCDIC compare supported
  • Double-byte compare supported

Git integration features

  • Git status overlays in “Explorer” tab of Workspace Manager, with Git context menu
  • Optional automated Git mergetool / difftool integration with UC
  • Automatic scanning for Git repositories, with “ignore folder” options in configuration
  • Git merge conflict resolution
    • Easily resolve Git merge conflicts
    • Select lines to keep – local, remote, or both
    • See result in bottom pane before saving manual merge changes
    • Optionally finish commit after all conflicts are resolved
  • Git version diff mode
    • Visually diff any two versions of a file from a Git repository
    • Diff working copy, index/staged, branch tip, or a previous commit
    • Git blame info displayed in hover tooltip for differences
  • Git ribbon
    • “Show” group to toggle Git-specific dockable windows
    • “Repository” group to add, hide, and refresh repositories
    • “Branch” group to toggle review mode
    • “File” group to blame, compare versions, and diff or resolve conflicts
  • “Repositories” window
    • Shows all repositories on system
    • Lists all local and remote branches for active repository
    • Git icon color reflects repository state
    • See active (HEAD) branch
    • Browse other (non-active) branches
    • Resolve conflicts or launch version compare
  • “Branch browser” window
    • See and browse files within repository’s active branch
    • Git icon color reflects working directory state
    • Sort files by Git status
    • Diff, blame, copy file path, more
    • Optionally show modified / conflict files only
    • Resolve conflicts or launch version compare
  • “Conflicts” window
    • See files in conflict state from active repository
    • Launch Git merge mode to manually resolve conflicts
    • Take all from local / remote
    • Launch diff or open blame log

Folder compare features

  • Compare two or three folders
  • Threaded compare engine for quick handling of large directories
  • Intuitive tree-style view
    • Includes open/close nodes for subdirectories
    • Double-click a compared file or folder to launch a new compare in a new session
  • Mark and hide or unhide files and folders
  • Set filter to specify file types to be displayed during folder compare
  • Compare remote (FTP/SFTP/FTPS) folder to local or remote folder
  • CRC support for FTP compares (avoid downloading files to compare them)
  • Folder synchronization (toggle “Folder sync” option in Edit tab)
    • Quickly sync different files between two folders (including subfolders)
    • Use pre-defined, customizable sync rules for determining how to handle differences
    • Create your own sync rules
    • Sync local, networked/shared, and remote/FTP files
    • Adjust sync actions for individual files as needed
    • Review sync actions before executing synchronization
    • Organize folder syncs in “Folder Synchronization” sessions
    • Launch folder sync session directly from UltraCompare’s Windows File Explorer context menu integration
    • Schedule folder sync tasks for full automation
  • Compressed archive compare
    • ZIP archive compare (including password support)
    • RAR archive compare
    • Java JAR archive compare
  • Side-by-side directory compare view
  • Windows File Explorer shell integration (right-click menu in Windows File Explorer)
  • Switch comparison method on the fly (basic, full, or smart [includes text compare])
  • Dockable preview pane to preview text content of files
  • Dockable “Legend & Filters” pane provides quick reference to compare symbols and colors, plus quick access to compare filters
  • Compare files based on time, date, or size
  • Optionally ignore user-specified directories and file types
  • Optionally ignore file timestamp differences
  • Full Unicode support – compare folders from Unicode paths
  • Ability to customize display of file date/time format in folder compare
  • Set a NOT operator for filter (i.e., NOT *.bak, etc.)
  • Provide live update on progress (useful when working with large nested directory trees)
  • Favorite files and folders allow quick access to commonly used compare items
  • Explore source or destination directory by right clicking in folder compare mode
  • Compare individual directories
  • Recursive compare of directories (includes subdirectories)
  • Difference summary includes:
    • same named files with different sizes
    • same named files with different creation dates/times
    • file type: binary or ASCII
    • option to automatically display immediately following directory compare
  • Select files with different names in folder compare mode and compare them
  • Right-click on column headings and select fields

Table / Excel compare features

  • Compare CSV, TSV, or any other tabular formatted data in grid view (columns / rows)
  • Optionally define field separator character
  • Optionally use row 1 as column headers
  • Ignore columns, rows, or cells containing a certain string
  • View only matching columns/rows, or only different columns/rows
  • Merge cells, rows, and columns, and save result
  • Excel (XLS/XLSX) compare (requires MS Excel 2007 or later)
    • See differences in spreadsheets
    • Multi-sheet support with sheet selector

Word/PDF compare features

  • Compare Microsoft Word documents
  • Compare DOC and DOCX files (.docx requires MS Word 2007 or later)
  • Compare text of PDF files (images and non-text data are ignored)
  • Compare RTF files

Binary compare features

  • Two binary compare modes:
    • Fast mode compares byte-to-byte (by position)
    • Smart mode aligns matching byte sequences in both files, even if offset by a differing number of bytes
  • Compared files’ bytes displayed side-by-side in hex format
  • Hex address shown in left column
  • ASCII representation of bytes shown in right column
  • View matching or differing bytes only
  • Option to display decimal offset rather than hexadecimal

Merge features

  • Merge support for text, folder, and table modes (special merge support for Git)
  • Undo merge
  • Merge compared lines or blocks between files for two and three way text compare
  • Merge compared files between directories for two and three way folder compare
  • Selected line merge capability
  • Accept all (or merge all) button for text mode, and folder mode
  • Word-level (or selection-level) replacement and insertion
  • Mark merged lines for review
  • Enhanced merging – allows changes to be added to changes in other file
  • Merge contents of compared directories
  • Automatically move to the first difference when loading
  • Automatically move to next difference after merge

Print / output features

  • Save text, binary, folder, or table compare result as HTML file (HTML representation of compare frames)
  • Print compare results in color
  • Ability to use UltraCompare in batch files to produce reports, side-by-side difference output
  • Print right or left compared file from File menu
  • Print compare difference summary showing matching lines or differences only
  • Print and save differences in context
  • Print and save differences of one file
  • Print and save files side by side
  • Print and save differences from binary compare
  • User configurable report headers/footers
  • Dockable output window with difference summary (cut/copy/paste output)

Display features

  • Integrated IE browser support – display and compare HTML files as they would appear in the browser
  • Show file in browser
  • Syntax highlighting for source files
    • Theme-based comment, string, and keyword coloring
    • Automatically detects and uses existing UltraEdit / UEStudio wordfiles
    • Install additional wordfiles from website (or create your own)
    • Manually set or disable highlighting type per-frame
    • Configure settings under Settings » Display » Text » Syntax highlighting
    • See syntax highlighting in active line window
  • Full theme support
    • Manage Themes dialog for creating and modifying themes:
      • Skin the entire application (dockable panes, menus, toolbars, file tabs, status bar, etc.)
      • Set compare colors and fonts for text, table, folder, and binary mode
    • Switch themes with a single click
    • Use one of several pre-defined themes or create your own
    • Import, export, and share your themes with others
  • Choose between ribbon or toolbar / menu mode
    • Ribbon includes contextualized tabs for compare type
    • Select toolbars / menus for classic look and feel
    • Full customization support for ribbon, Quick Access Toolbar, and toolbars
  • Synchronized horizontal scrolling
  • Flip comparison frames
  • Full ribbon and toolbar customization support

Miscellaneous features

  • Drag and drop files / folders to compare frame from Windows File Explorer
  • Automatic file change detection
  • Version control support via extended command line options and file path aliasing
  • Execution control to start, stop, or refresh a compare
  • Tabbed sessions allow you to run multiple concurrent compares within one instance of the application
  • Workspace Manager (“Explorer” tab)
    • Browse all system and network drives
    • Vertically split explorer
    • Drag-and-drop to compare frames
    • Optionally display, browse, and open files from FTP accounts in explorer tree
    • Filter files
  • Workspace manager (“Session” tab)
    • Save, name, group, and organize compare sessions for quick access to frequently-used compares
    • Launch and execute sessions directly from session list
    • Set compare/ignore/other options for each session in new session properties dialog
    • Recent sessions option provides quick access to sessions from your last UltraCompare session
  • Find Duplicates
    • Quickly locate duplicate files between two or more folders (including subfolders)
    • Specify criteria for what constitutes a duplicate file (name, size, date, and/or content)
    • Set ignore options for system files, hidden files, recycle bin, etc.
    • Set include / exclude filters to optionally include and exclude files/folders
    • Search for duplicates in local, network / shared, and remote / FTP files
    • Browse list of found duplicates and specify which to keep and which to delete
  • Set UltraCompare to single instance
  • Manual or automatic check for updates
  • Configurable key mapping
  • Set font for different compare modes
  • Integration with UltraEdit / UEStudio
    • Launch compare from UltraEdit or UEStudio
    • Double-click file(s) in UltraCompare to open in UltraEdit / UEStudio
    • UltraEdit / UEStudio automatically detect and update merged changes
  • Optional FTP account sharing with UltraEdit / UEStudio
  • Customize / manage toolbars and menus
  • Command line option for quick difference check

UltraCompare Lite features

  • Text compare
    • Support for line-by-line text compare of individual files
    • Status bar shows number of lines/blocks different
    • Compare difference summary includes:
      • data in source but not in destination file or vice versa
      • data difference between text files on the same line
  • Must be invoked from UltraEdit or UEStudio
  • HTML help