Softonic

Compare PDF

Step 1 / 3

Your PDFs are read only in this browser. Funnel files expire after 30 minutes and are removed while this page is open or when the tool next opens. They are never added to the page URL or sent to our server.

Choose the earlier PDF

Compare the extractable text in two versions of a PDF without uploading either document. The tool reads each page with PDF.js, normalizes whitespace, and highlights text found only in the earlier or revised file.

How to compare two PDFs

  1. 1

    Choose the earlier file

    Select PDF A, up to 25 MB and 200 pages.

  2. 2

    Choose the revision

    Select PDF B. In the step-by-step flow, both files stay in private browser storage for no more than 30 minutes.

  3. 3

    Review changed pages

    The browser extracts text by page and marks removed passages in red and added passages in blue.

What this comparison detects

The result compares the text that PDF.js can extract from matching page numbers. It is useful for contracts, reports, proofs, and drafts when wording changed. Whitespace is normalized before comparison, so line wrapping alone is less likely to create noise.

What it does not detect

This is not a visual or semantic comparison. It does not compare fonts, layout, images, annotations, form values, metadata, or digital-signature validity. A scanned PDF may contain no extractable text unless it has already been processed with OCR. If one version has an inserted cover page, later pages will be compared against different page numbers.

Privacy and limits

The files and extracted text remain in your browser and are never sent to our server. In the multi-step flow, the browser stores the two files locally for up to 30 minutes so they survive navigation between steps. Clearing the tool removes them sooner. Each file is limited to 25 MB, 200 pages, and 2,000,000 extracted characters.

Frequently Asked Questions

Only if the scan already contains an OCR text layer. This tool does not run OCR.

No. It only means the extractable text matched after whitespace normalization. Visual elements and PDF structure may still differ.

No. PDF.js reads them locally. The multi-step flow uses private browser storage for up to 30 minutes, not server storage.

PDF stores positioned drawing instructions rather than paragraphs. Complex columns, tables, or forms can therefore yield unexpected extraction order.

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