Git diff: Compare files between two different branches

We usually use git diff to compare the committed version and the working copy version of the file in the same branch to view what has changed.

In this article, we'll learn how to compare files between two different branches with git diff.

This can be useful when you want to merge one branch with another but want to compare what has changed prior to the merge.

Here is the syntax for comparing files between two different branches. First checkout one of the branches in this case named branch1.

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git checkout branch1

Next, use the below command to compare a file called file.txt with another branch called branch2.

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git diff branch2 -- file.txt

You can similarly compare multiple files like this:

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git diff branch2 -- file1.txt file2.txt file3.txt

You can also compare all files within the current directory using the below command:

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git diff branch2 -- .

Or you can specify a path and compare all files within that path.

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git diff branch2 -- ./path/to/files/

Hope this helps!🙏