How to compare two folders in Win 7 prof 64bit

Anonymous
2010-01-13T19:30:57+00:00

I have two folders which has multiple files. I would like to compare both folders and see which folder has more files and what are their names? How do I do that in Win 7 prof 64bit? Is their any utility that I can download?

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Files, folders, and storage

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Anonymous
2010-11-13T17:55:25+00:00

Hey dude-

Here's the right way to do it, without the external downloads.  It looks like a lot at first, but once you've done it, it's very easy.  It works in all Windows versions from 7 back to 95.  For our example assume that you're comparing two directories named 'A' and 'B'.

  1. run cmd.exe to get a command prompt.  (In Windows 7, the powershell won't work for this, FYI.)  Then do it again, so that you have two of them open next to each other.
  2. in each window go to the directories that you want to compare.  (Using 'cd' commands.  If you're not comfortable with this, then you should probably go with the external utilities, unless you want to learn command prompt stuff.)
  3. type 'dir /b > A.txt' into one window and 'dir /b > B.txt' into the other.  You'll now have two text files that list the contents of each directory.  The /b flag means bare, which strips the directory listing down to file names only.
  4. move B.txt into the same folder as A.txt.
  5. type 'fc A.txt B.txt'.  The command 'fc' means file compare.  This will spit out a list of the differences between the two files, with an extra line of text above and below each difference, so you know where they are.  For more options on how the output is formatted, type 'fc /?' at the prompt.  You can also pipe the differences into another file by using something like 'fc A.txt B.txt > differences.txt'.

Have fun.

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Anonymous
2010-01-14T18:43:08+00:00

Gujju dude,

Welcome to Microsoft Answers.

If you hover the pointer over the folder, it will display folder size and file information. If you do not have this activated, go to windows explorer > organize drop down > folder and search options > view > Select the Display file size information in folder tips check box, and then click OK.

I hope this helps.

Lisa

Microsoft Answers Support Engineer

Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.

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  1. Anonymous
    2012-07-17T19:08:02+00:00

    I looked up this question trying to find a simplified solution in Windows for what I can easily do in UNIX/Linux.   I'm surprised no one has provided the very basic answers of using either comp or fc against the 2 directories.  

    For example, comp {DIR1} {DIR2} will tell you if each file in the directories is the same.  The caveat here is comp uses the first directory argument as the basis of the comparison, so unlike dircmp on UNIX, it doesn't really give you a true file by file comparison of the 2 directories - just a comparison of if the file exists in DIR1, does it exist in DIR2, so you'd need to run comp as follows :

    comp DIR1 DIR2

    comp DIR2 DIR1

    to get a true comparison.

    You can also use fc to do the same. I'd suggest using the /B flag for binary comparison, but it has the same limitation as comp - you have to run it as

    fc DIR1 DIR2

    fc DIR2 DIR1

    to get a full comparison

    Either way is easier than matching up explorer windows side by side and manually checking things out.

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  2. Anonymous
    2012-07-03T16:54:45+00:00

    While I agree with JB-Spain about Mickey$oft, I think your fix is great!  I grew up using DOS so I am very comfortable with this.  I have several backups with thousands of files and, believe me, there is no way I am going to try to catch the differences scrolling down side by side screens! 

    Shaking the screen and touching left and right, that's all just bells and whistles.  What we are trying to do here is protect our data - OUR DATA!  All Mickey$oft does is hide how its done.  But we keep paying them to obsolete products WE buy from them when, in fact, we have the power to do it ALL in DOS.

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  3. Anonymous
    2012-05-08T07:16:55+00:00

    I have some directories coming up as too long is there any way of stopping this

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