The latest release of Merge is available from the Download Araxis Merge page. That release will typically support reasonably current versions of macOS. However, please consult the release notes to confirm that the release of Merge you are downloading supports the version of macOS that you are using.
Identifying appropriate releases of Merge for old versions of macOS and OS X
When using an older version of macOS or OS X that is unsupported by the latest release of Merge, please use the last supported release of Merge for your operating system version, as indicated in the table below.
Older releases are typically available for download from the release notes page. Please contact Araxis if you cannot find a desired release there.
For older releases of Merge (Merge 2017.4937 and earlier), there is a separate Merge installation disk image for each version of macOS or OS X. You must use the correct one for your operating system version, otherwise Merge will not work properly. (Newer releases of Merge have a single installation disk-image for all supported operating system versions.)
Operating System
Last Supported Merge Release
macOS 10.13 High Sierra
Installation disk images for Sierra-compatible releases have the naming convention Merge20XX.YYYY-macOS.dmg .
Installation disk images for Sierra-compatible releases have the naming convention Merge20XX.YYYY-macOS.dmg .
Installation disk images for El Capitan-compatible releases have the naming convention Merge20XX.YYYY-macOS.dmg .
Installation disk images for Yosemite-compatible releases have the naming convention Merge20XX.YYYY-OSX10.10.dmg .
Installation disk images for Mavericks-compatible releases have the naming convention Merge20XX.YYYY-OSX10.9.dmg .
Installation disk images for Mountain Lion-compatible releases have the naming convention Merge20XX.YYYY-OSX10.8.dmg .
Installation disk images for Mountain Lion-compatible releases have the naming convention Merge20XX.YYYY-OSX10.7.dmg .
Installation disk images for Snow Leopard-compatible releases have the naming convention Merge20XX.YYYY-OSX10.6.dmg .
Installation disk images for Snow Leopard-compatible releases have the naming convention Merge20XX.YYYY-OSX10.6.dmg .
Installation disk images for Leopard-compatible releases have the naming convention Merge20XX.YYYY-OSX10.5.dmg .
Installation disk images for Tiger-compatible releases have the naming convention Merge20XX_OSX10-4_YYYY.dmg .
Installing the main Merge application
To install the Merge application itself:
If you haven’t already, open and mount the Merge disk image ( .dmg file) that you have downloaded. You will need to accept the Merge licence agreement to do this.
Drag the Araxis Merge application from the disk image into your system’s Applications folder.
Integrating Merge with Finder (optional)
Please see Integrating with Finder for instructions specific to your version of macOS.
Installing the Merge command-line utilities (optional)
If you wish to use Merge from the command-line, or integrate it with another application, you will need to add the command-line utilities to your preferred command-line shell’s search path.
To install the command-line utilities:
Ensure that the Utilities folder within the Araxis Merge application bundle is part of your command-line shell’s search path. For example, if you use Zsh, you could add the following line to the .zshrc file in your home directory. If you use Bash, you would add it to .profile (or .bash_profile ) in your home directory instead.
Note that this line will place the Merge utilities on your PATH after any existing commands. If you encounter problems using a Merge command-line utility, check that there is not an identically named command elsewhere on your path. Note specifically, for example, that ImageMagick provides its own compare command. You can list all the compare commands in your PATH in decreasing order of precedence by running:
Integrating Merge with other applications (optional)
Please see Integrating with Source Control, Configuration Management and Other Applications for information about using Merge with certain other applications.
Sample files and scripts (optional)
The Sample Files folder on the Merge disk image contains samples files that you may wish to compare using Merge.
The Sample Scripts folder on the Merge disk image contains samples AppleScript files. See the AppleScript API page for further information.
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Command-Line Reference
Merge provides several command-line tools that enable you to launch Merge from a variety of applications. The AppleScript API enables even greater control over Merge.
Compare command-line utility
The primary (and recommended) way to use Merge from the command-line is to use the Compare command-line utility ( compare ). This utility program uses AppleScript to launch file comparisons within a new or existing instance of Merge.
Before using compare , ensure that the command-line utilities have been installed as described in the Installing the Merge command-line utilities section of the How to Install page.
Usage
For two-way comparisons, two filename arguments should be specified. These are the files that will be displayed within the file comparison window. An optional third filename argument can also be specified. This third argument is used as the default save filename if you save changes to either of the files in the file comparison window (for example, by choosing Save or Save As… from the context menu that appears when a file panel is right-clicked).
For three-way comparisons, three filename arguments should be specified. It is important that the common ancestor or base file (if any) is displayed in the middle file panel. This can be specified with the -aN command-line option. As with two-way comparisons, a further optional argument can be specified to set the default filename name used if a file is saved.
When merging three files, it is easiest to merge changes from the left and right files into the middle file. This is why the common ancestor file should be displayed in the middle file panel. Once the changes have been merged into the common ancestor file, right click the middle file panel and choose Save or Save As… to save the merged file.
The command-line arguments are described below.
-? or -h Displays usage summary.
-wait Wait for user to close the compared files in Merge before exiting.
-nowait Prevents compare from waiting for a comparison to be closed.
-merge Performs an automatic three-way merge to the common ancestor file after comparing three files.
-testconflicts When combined with -merge , checks whether an automatic three-way merge would cause merging conflicts. The program’s return code is the number of conflicts encountered.
-readonly Prevents the compared files from being edited.
-aN ( N is 1 , 2 or 3 ) The Nth filename argument specifies a common ancestor of the other two files. The common ancestor is shown in the middle file panel. Only valid for three-way comparisons.
-swap Swaps the files displayed in the left and right panels.
-max Maximizes the Merge application window.
-titleN:» » ( N is 1 , 2 or 3 ) Sets a friendly title for the file panel that displays the Nth file specified on the command-line. Single or double quotes must be used to surround the title. This feature enables a VC or SCM system to provide meaningful names for file panel titles. For example, «Djn’s Revision v1.1.1» , «Common Ancestor» and «Jrs’s Revision v1.1.2» could be used as the three file panel titles.
-2 Performs a two-way comparison (default) of the files and . If present, is used as the default save filename for the results of any merge.
-3 Performs a three-way comparison (only available in the Professional Edition of Merge) of the files , and . If present, is used as the default save filename for the results of any merge.
Examples
Opens a file comparison window comparing the two specified files.
Opens a file comparison window comparing the two specified files. Compare will not exit until the user closes the file comparison window.
Opens a file comparison window comparing the first two specified files. If the user attempts to save changes to either of the two files, /tmp/merged.txt will be used as the default save file name. Compare will not exit until the user closes the file comparison window.
Opens a file comparison window comparing the three specified files. Compare will not exit until the user closes the file comparison window. The first file specified is treated as the common ancestor of the other two and is therefore displayed in the middle file panel.
Opens a file comparison window comparing the first three specified files. If the user attempts to save changes to either of the three files, /tmp/merged.txt will be used as the default save file name. Compare will not exit until the user closes the file comparison window. The third file specified is treated as the common ancestor of the other two and is therefore displayed in the middle file panel. The file panels are given meaningful names.
araxisp4diff
This utility can be used to enable the Perforce command-line utility ( p4 ) and Perforce Visual Client ( p4v ) to use Araxis Merge to compare files. It can also be used as a simpler replacement for the compare utility.
Usage
To use araxisp4diff with the Perforce command-line tools, set the P4DIFF environment variable to reference araxisp4diff . For example, add the following line to your
Since Araxis Merge is capable of comparing binary and image files, you should generally include the -t option when using the p4 diff command. For example:
araxisp4winmrg
This utility can be used to enable the Perforce command-line utility ( p4 ) and UI ( p4v ) to use Araxis Merge to merge files.
Usage
To use araxisp4winmrg with the Perforce command-line tools, set the P4MERGE environment variable to reference araxisp4winmrg . For example, add the following line to your
araxissvndiff
This utility can be used to enable the Subversion command-line utility ( svn ) to use Araxis Merge to compare files.
Usage
To use araxissvndiff with the Subversion command-line tools, edit your
/.subversion/config so that the diff-cmd property in the [helpers] section references araxissvndiff . For example:
This line is commented-out in the default configuration file, so you should remove the # character and space at the start if present.
araxissvndiff3
This utility can be used to enable the Subversion command-line utility ( svn ) to use Araxis Merge to merge files.
Usage
To use araxissvndiff3 with the Subversion command-line tools, edit your
/.subversion/config so that the diff3-cmd property in the [helpers] section references araxissvndiff3 . For example:
This line is commented-out in the default configuration file, so you should remove the # character and space at the start if present.
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Advanced 2 and 3-way file comparison (diff), merging and folder synchronization
for Windows & macOS
Broad appeal, many uses
For legal and publishing professionals: instantly identify every change between different contract or manuscript drafts. Directly open and compare the text from Microsoft Office (Word and Excel), OpenDocument, PDF and RTF files. Copy text from other applications (such as Microsoft Word) and paste it directly into a text comparison.
For software engineers and web developers:compare, understand and combine different source file versions. Work quickly and accurately, whether you are comparing individual files or reconciling entire branches of source code. Use three-way comparison to integrate changes made by you, and those made by a colleague, with a common ancestor version. Synchronize a website with its staging area via FTP using the supplied FTP plugin†.
For release and quality control managers: compare different source code branches to give total confidence that you know and understand every change made to every file for a specific release. Compare product releases to be certain that only the expected files have been modified. Create an HTML or XML report of changes for audit purposes.
For code reviewers and auditors: identify in context every change made between two or three source code hierarchies. Create a standalone HTML or XML report of your findings. Add bookmarks and comments to a file or folder comparison, then save it as a single-file archive for emailing to other team members for review.
Other users: Whether you are working with multiple revisions of text files or need to keep multiple folder hierarchies in sync (for example, between a desktop and laptop machine), Merge could help save time and reduce errors by helping you to work quickly and accurately.
Learn more:
Araxis Merge Documentation Roadmap
Instant Overview of File Comparison and Merging: Windows, macOS
Instant Overview of Folder Comparison and Synchronization: Windows, macOS
† FTP plugin only available on Windows.
Text comparison and merging
Merge enables you to compare and work with different revisions of text files, such as program source code, XML and HTML files. Merge can extract and compare the text from Microsoft Office, OpenDocument, PDF and RTF files. XML files can be shown with special formatting, helping you to see changes more clearly. It supports files with ASCII, MBCS and Unicode character encodings.
A colour-coded side-by-side comparison makes it easy to pinpoint at a glance similarities and differences between files. Linking lines are drawn between the documents showing clearly how they are related.
Point-and-click merging helps you choose the parts of each file that you would like to add to a final merged version by simply clicking buttons. The in-place editor with unlimited undo enables complete control over the merged file as you create it. The text comparison display dynamically updates as the merge progresses.
Merge shows detailed highlights of changes within lines. It can be configured to ignore differences in whitespace and line endings, as well as changes in lines matching specified regular expressions. The latter is useful for ignoring unimportant changes such as timestamps or expanded version control keywords.
Learn more:
Instant Overview of File Comparison and Merging: Windows, macOS
Comparing Text Files (or Typed/Pasted Text): Windows, macOS
Working with Character Encodings: Windows, macOS
Merging Files: Windows, macOS
Editing Files: Windows, macOS
Compare text from common office file formats
Extract and compare the text content from Microsoft Office, OpenDocument, PDF and RTF files. Copy text from other applications and paste directly into a text comparison. (Note that office document layout and formatting is not shown in text comparisons.)
Learn more:
Comparing Text Files (or Typed/Pasted Text): Windows, macOS
Image and binary file comparison
Merge doesn’t just compare text files. Use image comparison to compare many different types of image file and instantly see which pixels have been modified. Binary comparison enables you to identify differences in data files at a byte level.
Learn more:
Comparing Image Files: Windows, macOS
Comparing Binary Files: Windows, macOS
Three-way comparison and automatic merging
Merge Professional adds advanced three-way visual file comparison and merging to the Standard Edition’s two-way visual file comparison and merging. This is particularly useful when more than one person is working on the same set of files.
Automatic Merging enables swift reconciliation of even the largest files. Three-way file comparisons can be launched directly from a three-way folder comparison, allowing efficient integration of entire branches of source code.
Learn more:
Feature Summary and Differences Between Editions
Three-Way File Comparison and Merging: Windows, macOS
Automatic File Merging: Windows, macOS
Three-Way Folder Comparisons: Windows, macOS
Folder hierarchy comparison and synchronization
Merge supports folder hierarchy comparison and synchronization, enabling you to compare and merge entire directory trees. This is ideal for detecting changes in different versions of source code or web pages. You can even use the efficient byte-by-byte comparison option to verify the contents of recordable CDs or USB thumbsticks.
With support for a variety of archive formats ( .zip , .tar , etc.), Merge enables you to compare archives as if they were folders†. Compare the contents of an archive to a folder to verify its contents, or to see which files have changed since the archive was created.
The Professional Edition of Merge supports three-way folder comparison (with automatic merging capability), enabling two revisions of a folder hierarchy to be merged with their common ancestor or some other folder hierarchy. This can be especially useful when used in conjunction with a source code control or software configuration management system.
Learn more:
Instant Overview of Folder Comparison and Synchronization: Windows, macOS
Comparing Folders: Windows, macOS
Synchronizing Folders: Windows, macOS
Three-Way Folder Comparisons: Windows, macOS
† Archive support is only available on Windows.
Direct access to configuration management (version control) systems, Time Machine and FTP sites
As well as being able to compare files and folders on local drives and network shares, Merge comes with plugins for Git, Mercurial, Subversion and Perforce. In addition to providing read-only access to older versions of the files you are comparing, the plugins make it possible to perform a folder comparison of a local Perforce or Subversion client workspace against the repository. Alternatively, different branches (or the same branch at different points in time) within a repository can be directly compared. A similar plugin for AllChange† is available from Intasoft.
Merge integrates with local Time Machine‡ volumes, so you can open any earlier revision of a file or folder. Open the same file or folder in both the left and right comparison panes, then use the Versions button to compare a file or folder with another revision of itself.
An FTP plugin† gives Merge file and folder comparisons direct access to files located on an FTP server. It is therefore possible to use a folder comparison to synchronize a local copy of a website’s content with the main site itself, provided the main site is running an FTP server.
Learn more:
Integrating with Source Control, Configuration Management and Other Applications: Windows, macOS
Perforce File System Plugin: Windows, macOS
Subversion File System Plugin: Windows, macOS
Mercurial File System Plugin: Windows, macOS
Git File System Plugin: Windows, macOS
AllChange File System Plugin: Windows
Accessing Revisions of a File on Time Machine
FTP File System Plugin: Windows
† AllChange and FTP plugins only available on Windows. ‡ Time Machine access only available on macOS.
Portable reports
File comparison reports can be created in HTML, HTML slideshow†, XML or UNIX diff format. HTML reports are particularly useful for archiving and distribution. Folder comparison reports can be created in HTML or XML format.
A folder comparison report can, optionally, include file comparison reports for some or all of the files involved in the folder comparison. Thus it is possible to generate a report that is a complete record of all the differences in all of the files involved in a folder comparison.
This is especially useful in code review and code audit situations, particularly as reports can be generated directly for files and folders in configuration management systems for which there is a Merge plugin.
Learn more:
Creating a File Comparison Report: Windows, macOS
Creating a Folder Comparison Report: Windows, macOS
Virtual File System (VFS) Plugins: Windows, macOS
† HTML slideshow reports only available on Windows.
Printing, automation and other advanced features
Other features include the ability to print a hard copy of file and folder comparisons, and to customize the behaviour and appearance of the application, including fonts, colours, and more.
A full Automation† or AppleScript‡ API and Command-Line Interface are included, allowing close integration with other applications (such as source/version control and software configuration management (SCM) systems) or your workflow.
Comprehensive online documentation is available from the Araxis website, including context-sensitive help for very dialog and dialog control.
Learn more:
Printing File Comparisons: Windows, macOS
Printing Folder Comparisons: Windows, macOS
Introduction to the Automation API: Windows
AppleScript API: macOS
Command-Line Reference: Windows, macOS
Integrating with Source Control, Configuration Management and Other Applications: Windows, macOS
† Automation API only available on Windows. ‡ AppleScript API only available on macOS.
One licence, two platforms
A single licence entitles you to use Merge on both Windows and macOS – even simultaneously, if you wish.
Merge licences are perpetual. You can keep using the product you have purchased forever. Each licence also includes one year of entitlement to support and all product updates. After the first year, support/update entitlement can be renewed for just pennies a day.
For older releases of Merge (Merge 2017.4937 and earlier), there is a separate Merge installation disk image for each version of macOS or OS X. You must use the correct one for your operating system version, otherwise Merge will not work properly. (Newer releases of Merge have a single installation disk-image for all supported operating system versions.)
Note that this line will place the Merge utilities on your PATH after any existing commands. If you encounter problems using a Merge command-line utility, check that there is not an identically named command elsewhere on your path. Note specifically, for example, that ImageMagick provides its own compare command. You can list all the compare commands in your PATH in decreasing order of precedence by running:
