A small Windows notification area utility
Compare the last two
pieces of text you copied.
Copy some text. Copy some other text. Press a shortcut to see what changed. ClipDiff lives in your notification area, ready when you need it. You can copy text files too.
01 Install
Get ClipDiff for Windows.
Windows 10 (1809+) or Windows 11 · x64
The Windows repository has the current install and update instructions. Extract the whole release ZIP and keep ClipDiff.exe beside ClipDiff.ShellExtension.dll. The self-contained build includes its .NET runtime.
02 Use
Copy. Copy. Compare.
- Start
ClipDiff.exe. It lives in your notification area. - Copy the older text, then copy the newer text.
You can copy text files too. - Press CtrlAltD
Or choose Show Diff in the ClipDiff menu. Previous is on the left; current is on the right. Switch between side-by-side and unified views, and use Copy unified diff to copy the unified diff.
ClipDiff captures copies made after it starts. It retains only two captures and does not recover earlier clipboard history.
03 Tricks
A few useful ways to use it.
Compare two config files
Copy one file, then the other in Explorer, and use Show Diff. Or copy exactly two files together to make them the comparison pair. Text files contribute their contents, and the viewer shows their filenames.
Compare copied text with a file
Copy a snippet from a browser or message, then right-click a local file and choose Compare with current ClipDiff capture.
ClipDiff adds the Explorer commands while it is running and Monitor Clipboard is enabled. On Windows 11, look under Show more options.
The command appears once ClipDiff has a current capture. Clearing that capture removes the command; pausing or quitting removes both Explorer commands.
Compare two selected files
Select exactly two files in Explorer, then choose Compare two selected files with ClipDiff. ClipDiff must already be running and monitoring. No previous capture is needed, and no administrator setup is required. On Windows 11, this can be under Show more options.
Use your usual diff viewer
Choose an installed application from Diff viewer in the ClipDiff menu, such as WinMerge, Beyond Compare, Meld, or Visual Studio Code. You can switch back to the built-in viewer at any time.
Share the difference
Switch to unified view and use Copy unified diff. Paste the diff into an issue or message instead of pasting two complete blocks.
Make it fit your workflow
Choose Keyboard shortcut... to change the shortcut. Turn off Monitor Clipboard to pause capture, or choose Clear Captured Text to discard the two captured values without changing your clipboard.
Comparisons are text-based. Files over 16 MiB are not read; binary or unusable files contribute a filename and reason. Encoding and fallback details.
04 About
I built it because I wanted it.
I’m Stuart. I built ClipDiff because I wanted a quick way to compare things I’d copied. If it’s useful to you too, that makes me happy. You’re welcome to it.