IntelliJ IDEA enables you to perform the following types of comparison:

- Compare directories
- Compare a class or class member with another class or class member
- Compare a local file with versions in the Local History
- Compare a local file with the current revision in your version control repository
- Compare any local file with the current file in the Editor
- Compare any 2 local files to each other: text or binary
- Compare selected text in the Editor with Clipboard contents

You can configure usage of the differences tool in the Settings dialog ( File | Settings | IDE: General: Diff options).

Use context menus to invoke comparison commands. Refer to the Comparison section of online help for details.