TextCompareLab
Guide: Compare contract versions
How to compare two versions of a contract
When a counterparty sends back a "clean" revised draft, the risk is rarely in the clauses they mention. It is in the small edits they did not: a shorter deadline, a removed exception, a changed number. A text comparison lists the differences it finds, so you read the changes instead of rereading the whole document.
Steps
- Copy the text of the version you already have into the original box, and the new version into the changed box. If your copies are PDFs, select and copy the text, or export them to text first.
- Leave "Ignore case" off. In a contract, "Supplier" and "supplier" can be a defined term versus an ordinary word.
- Turn on "Ignore whitespace" only if the two files differ in spacing or indentation. It collapses repeated spaces inside a line. It does not join lines that were wrapped differently.
- Run the comparison and read the changed blocks from top to bottom. The arrows beside the counter jump from one change to the next.
- Use "Changed lines only" for a short list, then go back to the full view for context around anything that matters.
What a small edit can look like
The changed line shows which words differ inside it, so a 30 turning into a 14 stands out even when the sentence otherwise reads the same.
Things to watch
- The comparison is line by line. If one version breaks a paragraph into several lines and the other keeps it on one line, the whole paragraph shows as changed. Paste one paragraph per line in both versions to avoid that.
- Numbering changes (5.2 becoming 5.3) can ripple through a whole section without the clauses changing. Check the wording, not only the highlight.
- The tool compares text, not meaning. It will not tell you whether a change helps or hurts you. Read each change, and ask a lawyer about anything that carries risk.
- Tables, images and tracked changes do not come through when you copy text, so check those in the original files.
Keep a record or send it on
Copy or download the result as a text file to keep with the contract. The history list in your browser keeps recent comparisons. The Share button makes an encrypted link whose password you send separately. The comparison runs in your browser and the texts are not uploaded.