In some cases, the user of the Microsoft Word program has a need to compare two texts for coincidences. This can be done in a number of ways. What's the fastest way to compare two Word documents?
The most affordable options for solving this problem:
Let us consider both options in more detail.
Built-in tools for comparing documents in Word
Microsoft Word has been released in a large number of modifications. Among the most common - Word 2007. Let's explore what interfaces it has for quick and easy comparison of documents.
With Microsoft Word open, select the Review tab. Then - the "Compare" option. After that, the program will offer to indicate two files in Word format that will be compared. As soon as the user does this, several windows will open in front of him. They will display:
- original source (right);
- modified document (right);
- “hybrid” document (center);
- summary of corrections (left).
We will probably be interested primarily in the window that is located in the center. It displays "combined" text, in which the differences between the original and the modified source will be "highlighted" - highlighted in color.
Text that is present in the original document, but not in the modified one, is highlighted in red strikethrough type. New text is underlined in red. Green - paragraphs that have been moved. Regular font is what is in both documents, the overlapping fragments.
Using auxiliary elements of the interface, you can turn the detected differences into a full-fledged element of text or reject them (using the button "Accept" or "Reject and go to the next"). After completing work with the "combined" text, you must save the corresponding document with the approved changes.
External means of comparing documents
How to compare two Word documents and "highlight" the differences between them using the built-in Microsoft Word tools, we now know. But there are ways to solve the problem under consideration, which also involve the use of third-party types of software. They can come in handy if the actual Microsoft Word program is not at hand.
Among such solutions is the WinMerge program. You can download it here - http://winmerge.org/?lang=ru. It's free.
You need to install it on your computer, start and create a new project (select "File", then - "Open"). Then it is necessary to load the compared files from the computer disk into the program. Press OK and wait for the appearance of several interface windows:
- located in the center and on the right (they will display the compared texts);
- located on the left (graphical display of the structure of documents);
- below (it shows the actual differences between the texts).
Notably, the differences are displayed line by line. Using the elements of the program interface, you can navigate between them. Differences, which are revealed when comparing two files, can be copied from one text to another - sequentially or all at the same time.
The WinMerge program includes useful functions:
- find and replace text;
- highlighting HTML tags, elements of PHP, Python;
- Creation of a report in HTML format based on the results of text reconciliation.
We now know how to compare two Word documents for matches using the built-in tools of the program from Microsoft, as well as to match texts using external solutions. But it may well turn out that neither Word, nor WinMerge or analogues of this software will be at hand. In this case, you can use one of the online services to compare texts.
Using online services
Among the most convenient and popular sites that allow solving the problem of comparing texts online is http://text.num2word.ru/. You need to go to it, place two texts in the right and left forms, respectively, and click the "Compare" button. The information that is only in the left document is displayed in blue, the information that is present exclusively in the right one is displayed in red. The text common to both sources is marked in black.
An interesting tool is TopWriter ( http://www.topwriter.ru/comparison/ ). It allows you to display the similarity of texts in percentage terms. To use this service, you should go to the specified site, place two texts in the corresponding online forms and click the "Compare" button. Immediately, a percentage figure is displayed, indicating the degree of similarity of the two texts.
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