IntelliJ IDEA 2024.1 Help

Compare files from the command line

Open the diff viewer to compare two or three files from the command line. For example, you can compare the current version of a file with its backup, or your local copy of a file with its copy from the remote repository or its copy from another branch.

You can find the executable for running IntelliJ IDEA in the installation directory under bin. To use this executable as the command-line launcher, add it to your system PATH as described in Command-line interface.

Syntax
idea64.exe diff <path1> <path2> [<path3>]
Examples

Compare two files:

idea64.exe diff C:\MyProject\Readme.md C:\MyProject\Readme.md.bak

Open a blank diff viewer:

idea64.exe diff

By default, IntelliJ IDEA does not provide a command-line launcher. For more information about creating a launcher script for IntelliJ IDEA, refer to Command-line interface.

Syntax
idea diff <path1> <path2> [<path3>]
Examples

Compare two files:

idea diff ~/MyProject/Readme.md ~/MyProject/Readme.md.bak

Open a blank diff viewer:

idea diff

You can find the script for running IntelliJ IDEA in the installation directory under bin. To use this script as the command-line launcher, add it to your system PATH as described in Command-line interface.

Syntax
idea.sh diff <path1> <path2> [<path3>]
Examples

Compare two files:

idea.sh diff ~/MyProject/Readme.md ~/MyProject/Readme.md.bak

Open a blank diff viewer:

idea.sh diff
Last modified: 12 April 2024