How do I see the differences between two branches?

Use git diff.

git diff [<options>] <commit>..​<commit> [--] [<path>…​]

<commit> is a branch name, a commit hash, or a shorthand symbolic reference.

Examples: git diff abc123..def567, git diff HEAD..origin/master.

That will produce the diff between the tips of the two branches. If you'd prefer to find the diff from their common ancestor to test, you can use three dots instead of two:

git diff <commit>...<commit>

To check which files differ, not how the content differs, use --name-only:

git diff --name-only <commit>..​<commit>

Note that in the <commit>..<commit> (two dot) syntax, the dots are optional; the following is synonymous:

git diff commit1 commit2

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Go to a branch (e.g. main), then run diff against another branch (e.g. branch2):

git checkout main
git diff branch2

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git diff master..develop

Options:

Add --name-only to only see the names of the files.

Add -- folderOrFileName at the end to see the changes of specific files or folders.

To compare the local branch with the remote one, then run git fetch --all to fetch all remote branches, and run: git diff --name-only [branchName]..origin/[branchName] Example: git diff --name-only develop..origin/develop.

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There are many different ways to compare branches, and it's depend on the specific use case you need.

Many times you want to compare because something broken and you want to see what has been changes, then fix it, and see again what changed before commiting.

Personally when I want to see the diff what I like to do:

git checkout branch_1 # checkout the oldest branch
git checkout -b compare-branch # create a new branch
git merge --no-commit --squash branch_2 # put files from the new branch in the working folder
git status # see file names that changes
git diff # see the content that changed.

Using this solution you will see the diff, you can also see only the file names using git status, and the most important part you will be able to execute branch_2 while seeing the diff (branch_2 is on the working tree). If something had broken you can editing the files and fix it. Anytime, you can type again git status or git diff to see the diff from the new edit to branch_a.

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You can simply show difference by- git diff b1...b2 Or you can show commit difference using- git log b1..b2 You can see commit difference in a nice graphical way using - git log --oneline --graph --decorate --abbrev-commit b1..b2

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In Eclipse(J2EE version) , open "Window --> Show view --> Git Repository". if you have checked out 2 local git branches for examples then you will have bunch of branches in Local section. select any 2 git local branches and do " right click and select "Compare with each other in Tree menu".

Open view "Git Tree Compare" and u will be able to see side by side diff for all files.

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Sometimes it's nice to see the diff as a tree...

git difftool --dir-diff branch..otherBranch

For example, when bitbucket decides it will only show you a "three way merge" diff rather than the actual complete differences between the two branches you've selected.

This will show the diff as a tree in the tool you've selected. e.g. in meld.

Inspired by @GregRundlett comment.

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