The results or the outline window by default shows identical files as well as the differences. If you want to compare files in those folders recursively, enable the Include subdirectories checkbox.

In the Select Directories dialog box, type the two folder names that you want to compare in the Dir1 and Dir2 boxes.

On the File menu, click Compare Directories.

To do a directory comparison using WinDiff: You can also download WinDiff as part of the Windows XP Support Tools package, and extract its contents using 7-Zip. 0 with the Date modified stamp showing 4-7-2016. WinDiff can compare ASCII & Binary files, compare two directories, and synchronize the folders (left folder → right folder, or vice-versa). WinDiff is still awesome and it works perfectly fine in Windows 10, but no Unicode support. Please hold on! Don’t be taken aback by the year of the initial release. WinDiff is a graphical file comparison tool from Microsoft which was first released in the year 1992 and subsequently updated.

Compare two folders using Microsoft WinDiff For folder synchronization: FreeFileSync for GUI & Robocopy CLI method.For folder comparison: WinDiff (due to its simple UI).List files and folders using DIR command and compare them.List files and folders using TREE command and compare them.

PowerShell (with hash checksum comparison).

FCIV utility (hash checksum comparison).

HashMyFiles utility (hash checksum comparison).

Synchronize folders automatically in real-time.

Synchronize folders with SyncFolders (supports hash checksum verification).

Synchronize folders using TotalCommander.

Winmerge compare word documents