Viewing Difference Between Files from Command Line

You can use IntelliJ IDEA as a command line tool for viewing differences between files.

In the command line, run the diff command using the following syntax:
<IntelliJ IDEA> diff path1 path2

The selected files will be opened in the Differences viewer for files.

The command options are as follows:

Option	Description
`<IntelliJ IDEA>`	The platform-specific IntelliJ IDEA launcher. On macOS and Linux, it is recommended to use the command-line launcher created during the IntelliJ IDEA installation, or create one manually by selecting Tools \| Create Command-line Launcher on the IntelliJ IDEA main menu. Refer to Enable a command-line launcher on macOS/Linux for details. On Windows, it is recommended to add the path to the IntelliJ IDEA executable to the `Path` environment variable.
`path1`	The full path to the local copy of the file.
`path2`	The full path to the repository version copy of the file.

Option

Description

<IntelliJ IDEA>

The platform-specific IntelliJ IDEA launcher.

On macOS and Linux, it is recommended to use the command-line launcher created during the IntelliJ IDEA installation, or create one manually by selecting Tools | Create Command-line Launcher on the IntelliJ IDEA main menu. Refer to Enable a command-line launcher on macOS/Linux for details.

On Windows, it is recommended to add the path to the IntelliJ IDEA executable to the Path environment variable.

path1

The full path to the local copy of the file.

path2

The full path to the repository version copy of the file.

Examples

Syntax: idea.exe diff path1 path2
Example: idea.exe diff C:\MyProject\Readme.md C:\MyProject\Readme.md.bak

Syntax: idea diff path1 path2
Example: idea diff ~/MyProject/Readme.md ~/MyProject/Readme.md.bak

Last modified: 9 December 2019