Once installed, you will see a new Compare menu in the toolbar or under the Plugins menu.
How to compare two files:
| Feature | Legacy Compare Plugin (v2.0) | ComparePlus (Current) | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | Architecture | 32-bit (x86) Focus | Full 64-bit (x64) & 32-bit Support | | Stability | Prone to crashing on N++ v8+ | Stable on modern Notepad++ versions | | UI Scaling | Poor High-DPI support | Full High-DPI/4K support | | Colors | Basic highlighting | Enhanced, customizable dual-view colors | | Navigation | Basic | Navigation bar (locates diffs quickly) | | Detection | Line-based | Improved detection of moved blocks |
Do not use the built-in Plugin Admin for older versions; it often pulls the latest release. Follow this better approach: notepad compare plugin 202 download better
Verify the version
Go to Plugins → Compare → About – confirm it shows 2.0.2.
This is the "better" method. Notepad++ now has a built-in Plugins Admin. Once installed, you will see a new Compare
Once you have the "202" version installed, these tweaks will make it work better than the default setup.