It is possible to choose which method to use to compare two folders.
The method to use is strictly related to user needs; comparing source code (files only a few kilobytes large) should use a content comparison, but finding which movies (files larger than a gigabyte) are not present on the right side is faster when comparing by file size or file timestamp.
Every file is treated as binary and compared byte by byte; only 'Compare file content ignoring line ending differences' compares text.
The complete list of supported comparison methods is below.
| Method | Description |
|---|---|
| Compare file sizes Very quick |
Two files are identical if they have the same file size |
| Compare file timestamps Very quick |
Two files are identical if they have the same timestamp.
The Unix last modified date is used for comparison. If file A's timestamp is less than file B's it is marked as older and it will be shown with a different color. It is possible to set a span in seconds to consider two files with the same timestamp, see below |
| Compare file timestamps and sizes Very quick |
Compare the file timestamps; only if they are different compare the size. |
| Compare file content only Slow on large files |
Compare files as binary, byte by byte |
| Compare file timestamp, size and content Slow on large files |
Compare the file content; only if the content is different compare the timestamp, and only if the timestamp differs compare the size |
| Compare file content ignoring line ending differences Slow on large files |
Compare files as plain text, reading line by line and comparing lines. The line ending character is ignored so a DOS file (with lines separated by CR+LF) matches a Unix file (with lines separated by LF) if, ignoring the newlines, the content is identical |