Standalone application · Local first · Verified operations

Compare folders without turning comparison into synchronization.

Folder Compare scans on a worker thread, presents large result sets through a virtual native list, previews bounded text differences, and only copies after an explicit direction and confirmation.

Open the repository Read the design guide

Folder Compare showing two paths and their comparison results — A populated native workspace shows status, relative path, sizes, and a bounded side-by-side text preview.

ScaleVirtual result list

CorrectnessByte-level verification

SafetyNo implicit synchronization

ResponsivenessWorker scan and cancellation

What it demonstrates

Native UI around an explicit safety boundary.

The model distinguishes same, changed, one-sided, type-conflict, and error states. Exclusions are configurable, symbolic links are never followed implicitly, and content verification does not trust timestamps alone.

Copy operations use a sibling temporary file, verify bytes, and replace the destination only after verification. This is intentionally a focused comparison tool, not an automatic sync engine or three-way merge system.

Build and try

A disposable populated demo is built in.

git clone https://github.com/mwfl/folder-compare.git
cd folder-compare
cmake --preset vs2026-x64
cmake --build --preset vs2026-x64-release
ctest --preset vs2026-x64-release
./build/vs2026-x64/Release/folder-compare.exe --showcase