How To Compare Your Documents In Google Docs

Google Docs is online word processing software that adds life to your documents that lets you format the text with numerous fonts and styling tools smart editing and styling tools
It is a part of the free web-based Google Docs editor suite which also has other editors like Google Sheets, Google Slides, Google Drawings, Google Forms, Google Sites, and Google Keep.

Google keeps adding unique and refreshing features from time to time to keep it at par with other word processing platforms. One such remarkable feature that lets you compare your two Google Documents. This feature will make it easier to work with more than one document.

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Why Compare your Documents?

This important feature of Google Docs will let you compare and find the differences between two documents.

This feature works similar to the Diff command and is incredibly useful for writers and teachers who keep looking out for differences in versions of online books. Moreover, it can also help you see if anything has changed in the contract or any legal proceedings and save you from any fraud.

This feature is a very big deal in itself as it will make it very easy to spot even the smallest of variance between any two documents. You can also keep a track of the multiple revisions or changes made in documents using the Version History feature (revision history).

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As soon as you compare two documents, a new document showing the prevailing edits from both the documents is created.

Now you have to click on this feature to see any differences between your two google docs in a new document. This will be available under the “Suggested Edits” option.
You will see that the differences between documents are focused in magenta color with strikethroughs. You will also see a sidebar that will display all the changes made and also who has made those changes.

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How to compare two documents in Google docs?

• Follow these instructions given below to use the document comparison tool for comparing Google Docs.
• Firstly, open your web browser and go to the home page of Google Docs
• Now, select and open the first document that you have to compare.
• After opening the document, click on tools from the menu and then choose the ‘Compare Documents’ option.
• A pop-up window will appear that will ask you to select another document that you want to compare with this document.
• This window will have three components. The first component lets you choose the second document, the second one asks for the owner of the document and in the last one, you have to choose whether you want to include comments in the document or not.

• Choose “My Drive” to open the file picker for choosing the file to compare
• Look for the file you want to compare with the first document. You can either use tabs like My Drive to find your document. Alternatively, you can also browse the folders and files using the search box as well.
• Once you locate the file, select it and tap on the open document.
• The name entered into “Attribute Differences To” will be the person who will have made the changes in the final document.
  
  NOTE: If by mistake you have selected the wrong document, you can change the second file by clicking on it. The Compare feature will not be enabled until you have not selected the second file.
• After Google Docs has finished comparing both the files, it will prompt you that the comparison is done. You will see a pop-up window will appear with a “Comparison is ready” message.

• Click on the open button on the pop-up window to see the differences.
• After clicking open, you will see that a new or the third document is opened. This file will have all the suggestions highlighted in magenta color in the body of the document.
• You can also see the name of the owner of the document on the right side. The timing, as well as the changes, will also appear in the document.
• It will also tell which text was replaced and the word with which it was replaced.
• You will have an option to allow or dismiss the edits in the document which will appear in the suggestion.
• You can click on the checkbox or click on the cross to accept or reject changes.
• The new document with comparison is automatically saved by Google Docs. However, a final document can be created using the two versions by comparison.

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Conclusion

Once the document is created, you can rename it similar to any other file existing in Google Docs. Google Docs is a wonderful word processing application that helps you to create edit and share documents online. This document comparison tool is a wonderful addition to its long list of features.

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