CompareTexts

CompareTexts / Document comparison

Compare the text in two PDFs

Use this PDF text comparison when a revised document has different styling but you need to know what the words say. Select two local PDFs and inspect the extracted text changes.

Choose two PDF files

The browser reads selected files locally. File contents are not sent to a server.

Comparison results

Choose inputs and run the comparison.

Worked example

A changed trial period

Select Load example above to run this sample in your browser.

Original

policy-original.pdf: “The trial lasts 14 days.”

Revised

policy-revised.pdf: “The trial lasts 30 days.”

What the result means: The word comparison identifies 14 as removed and 30 as added; the styling of either PDF has no effect on this result.

How to use it

How to compare the text in two pdfs

  1. STEP 01

    Choose the original and revised PDF files.

  2. STEP 02

    Extract selectable text from both documents in your browser.

  3. STEP 03

    Review added and removed wording, then download a plain-text report.

Compare wording without page-layout noise

Visual PDF comparison can flag every line after a font or margin change. This tool instead compares extracted text in reading order. It helps review revised manuals, policies, reports and regional document versions when their page designs differ. Page counts and extraction totals are shown so you can judge whether the comparison is complete.

What to check in the results

Image-only or scanned PDFs need OCR and may produce no text here. PDF text extraction order can differ from visual reading order, especially with columns, tables and complex layouts. Password-protected PDFs are unsupported.

For a general line and character comparison, use the text diff tool. The text comparison guide explains a worked example, line counts, and how to keep shared links private.

Common questions

Can I compare two PDFs with different formatting?

Yes, when both contain selectable text. The comparison uses extracted wording, so font, margin and page-design changes do not become text edits.

Why does a scanned PDF show no text?

A scan is an image of a page. Run OCR in a document app first, then compare the searchable PDFs or paste their extracted text into the main text diff.