# What Changed? Text Difference Explainer

> Compare two versions of text and get a human-readable summary of what was added, removed, or modified

**Category:** Text
**Keywords:** text diff, compare text, version comparison, text changes, document diff, what changed, text difference, compare versions
**URL:** https://complete.tools/what-changed

## How it works

The tool operates using a comparison algorithm, often leveraging the Longest Common Subsequence (LCS) method to catch differences between two text versions. It breaks down each version into smaller parts—like lines or words—and identifies the longest sequence of unchanged elements. By examining what’s been added, removed, or modified, it generates a summary that clearly shows how the texts differ. This method ensures that every change is accurately captured and presented.

## Who should use this

This tool is perfect for a variety of users. Editors can review draft changes in articles or manuscripts. Software developers can compare code changes in version control systems. Legal professionals might analyze revisions in contract documents, while researchers can keep track of updates in academic papers or reports.

## Worked examples

Here are a few examples to illustrate how the tool works: 

Example 1: Original: 'The cat sat on the mat.' Modified: 'The cat sat on the rug.' Summary: 1 removal ('mat'), 1 modification ('mat' to 'rug'). 

Example 2: Original: 'The report is due on Friday.' Modified: 'The report is due on Monday.' Summary: 1 modification ('Friday' to 'Monday'). 

Example 3: Original: 'The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.' Modified: 'The quick brown fox jumps over the very lazy dog.' Summary: 1 modification ('lazy' to 'very lazy'). These examples show how the tool identifies specific text changes, helping users grasp revisions quickly.

## Limitations

While the tool is powerful, it does have some limitations. For very large texts, you might notice slower processing times and potential inaccuracies. It can also be sensitive to formatting differences—like whitespace or punctuation changes—which might lead to misunderstandings. The tool assumes that both texts are in the same language and encoding, so it might struggle with multilingual documents. Lastly, it may not catch nuanced changes in non-standard language or slang.

## FAQs

**Q:** How does the tool handle identical texts? 

**A:** If the texts are the same, the tool simply states that no changes were detected. 


**Q:** Can the tool detect changes in formatting? 

**A:** It mainly focuses on textual changes, so it might not pick up on formatting differences like font size or style. 


**Q:** What happens if the texts are significantly different? 

**A:** The tool will still summarize changes, but with extensive differences, the output might be longer and less concise. 


**Q:** Is there a limit on the length of text that can be compared? 

**A:** There’s no strict character limit, but performance may decline with very large texts, leading to slower processing or inaccuracies.

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*Generated from [complete.tools/what-changed](https://complete.tools/what-changed)*