windiff.exe 'c:source' 'd:destination'
would launch the tool and straight away compare those two folder paths.-S
switch. Examples are below:X
switch, as below:*.*
so that all files are compared.The “Include Subfolders” (compares recursively) option is enabled by default. If you want to compare files in the top-level directory only, uncheck the option.Left size
, Right size
, Left date
, Right date
from the numerous other column options provided.Echo
option. That is, the option copies missing or different files to the right folder, and any extra files and folders on the right are deleted.Asymmetric | If this option is checked, it is assumed that a copy of the left side should be created on the right side. Files which do not exist on the left side will be marked for deletion on the right side. This option is meant for backups. |
Subdirs | Also compares the subdirectories of the two chosen directories. |
by content | Compares the content of files which have the same size and date. It checks that the files also have the same content. |
=
symbol), and enable the other three buttons./S=S:SettingsName
so that the comparison will start immediately based on that previously saved setting.Uploads
/START
= Start synch with last saved options./STARTJOB 'JobName'
= Start synch with selected Job options)./MINIMIZE
= Starts minimized in the Tray Bar./HIDDEN
= Do not display icon in Tray Bar./NOSECURITYCHECK
= Don’t makes security check before sync./NOMONITORCHECK
= Do not check monitor resolution./AUTOREALTIME
= Starts minimized, do a standard sync and activate RealTime./SOMEFILE.INI
= Starts using selected INI file.=
symbols used as separators.E:
) regularly. For the purpose of illustration, let’s check if these two folders are identical. In this example, we’re going to compare the following folders, recursively (i.e. along with sub-folders, a deep comparison):D:Diff.txt
file./L
:: List only – don’t copy, timestamp or delete any files. This option is used for logging purposes only; for a dry-run./MIR
:: MIRror a directory tree (equivalent to /E plus /PURGE). Since we’re using it with /L
switch, no file/folder will be actually copied./TS
:: include source file Time Stamps in the output./LOG:file
:: output status to LOG file (overwrite existing log).D:Diff.txt
. Here is what the log look like:Lonely
fileTweaked
file is defined to be one that exists in both the source and destination, with identical size and timestamp, but different attribute settings./L
(list-only) switch./MIR
) is similar to Microsoft SyncToy‘s “Echo” feature. Remember, RoboCopy does only left → right synchronization — NOT a two-way synchronization./MIR
switch also removes any extra files and directories in the destination folder tree. The “Extra” files/folders are items present in the destination but not present in the source path. The /MIR
(mirror) command makes sure that the destination folder structure (and files) is an exact copy of the source./MT
switch is to do a multi-threaded copy for a super-fast copy operation. It’s an optional switch, but extremely useful..bat
extension). Simply double-click on the Batch file whenever you want to sync the mentioned folders. You may even run the batch file at the required intervals using Task Scheduler.fciv.exe
to a folder — e.g., d:tools
. Then follow one of these methods:hashdb.xml
.-bp
parameter is used to specify the base path to remove from full path name. It ensures that the base path is not included in the XML output so that you can compare the items in the destination folder path having the exact same folder structure.hashdb.xml
.source.txt
and destination.txt
using a file compare tool like WinDiff, WinMerge, DiffChecker.com, DiffMerge or WinCompare.source_folder_path
and dest_folder_path
placeholders respectively.<=
means the file or folder exists only in the source. i.e., missing in the destination.=>
means the file or folder exists only in the destination. i.e., missing in the source.SHA-256
algorithm, which you can change using the -Algorithm
parameter. As said earlier, hash checksum is a kind of signature for a file which is unique.source.txt
file.source.txt
file.destinations.txt
:d:destination.txt
<=
or =>
for left folder and right folder respectively. The output also shows extra files in the source as well as the destination.d:source.txt
and d:destination.txt
. You can use the following WinDiff command-line to compare the files:0xc1900101-error.png
is different. Also, the destination folder or the right folder (denoted by the symbols !>
in WinDiff) has an extra file named 1h.txt
.TREE
command comes extremely handy. Suppose you want to compare the two folders (including file names) D:SOURCE and D:DEST, follow these steps:D:
drive’s root directory. The text files will have your directory structure in a tree format, which makes it easy for comparison work./F
flag.DIR
command.D:SOURCE
and D:DEST
in the respective text files by editing them with Notepad. To bulk replace text, use the Replace option in Notepad and remove every occurrence of the base path.