Compare two folders side by side in Visual Studio Code.
Features
Starting a comparison
Select two folders in the Explorer, right-click, and choose Batch Compare to compare them directly.
Select one folder, right-click, and choose Batch Compare — the selected folder becomes the right side, and a dialog lets you pick the left folder to compare against.
Click either path shown at the top of the compare view to reopen the folder-picker dialog and swap in a different folder for that side.
Comparing trees
A two-column tree view shows both folder structures aligned by relative path, connected with expandable tree guide lines.
By default, folders that are fully identical start collapsed, while folders containing differences are automatically expanded so you see what changed right away.
The differing segment between the two root paths (e.g. .../project/v1 vs .../project/v2) is highlighted at the top, making it easy to spot which folders you're comparing.
Files and folders are color- and background-highlighted by status:
Modified — exists on both sides with different content (red text + background)
Only in left — exists only in the left folder (red-tinted background on the left cell)
Only in right — exists only in the right folder (green-tinted background on the right cell)
Identical — shown in a neutral grayscale shade, varied by file extension so different file types are still easy to tell apart at a glance
Alternating row backgrounds (zebra striping) make it easier to follow a row across both columns.
Toolbar
The toolbar above the folder paths provides:
⇄ Swap — swap the left and right folders and re-compare.
Expand Diff Only — collapse everything except the folders that contain differences (the default view).
Expand All / Collapse All — expand or collapse every folder.
⟳ Reload — re-scan both folders and refresh the comparison (useful after external changes).
Opening files
Click a file that exists on both sides to open it in VS Code's built-in diff editor.
Click a file that exists on one side only to open it in a regular editor.
Settings
batchCompare.exclude — names of files or folders to skip during comparison (default: .git, node_modules).
