Word-by-word vs character-by-character diff
The checker can compare text in two ways. Word mode treats each word as one unit, which keeps edited prose easy to read; character mode pinpoints the exact letters that changed. This guide compares one corrected sentence in both modes.
Worked example
Please recieve the package by Friday.
Please receive the packages by Friday.
Please recievereceive the packagepackages by Friday.
- Added
- 15
- Removed
- 14
- Unchanged
- 23
- Total Changes
- 29
Changes found
recievereceivepackagepackages
Please recieive the packages by Friday.
- Added
- 2
- Removed
- 1
- Unchanged
- 36
- Total Changes
- 3
Changes found
i- i
- s
Added textRemoved text
Word mode marks both edited words as replaced, so 29 characters count as changed. Character mode shows only the swapped letters in “receive” and the added plural “s”, so just 3 characters count as changed.
How the checker compares text
- In word mode, a word is any run of characters between spaces, tabs or line breaks. Changing a single letter marks the whole word as removed and added again.
- In character mode, every letter, digit, space and punctuation mark is compared on its own, so a corrected typo shows up as one or two characters.
- Use word mode for prose, contracts and other documents where you want to read whole changed words.
- Use character mode for spelling fixes, numbers, IDs and code, and for languages written without spaces between words, such as Chinese, Japanese and Thai.
- The Added, Removed and Unchanged totals count characters in both modes, so the same edit can give different totals depending on the mode.
- You can switch modes at any time in the checker; the highlighted result updates instantly.