git diff --> show changed part in the line

Question

If I execute git diff I see the whole line in red color.

Is there a way to highlight the change in the line?

I often have a diff where just a single line got changed.

Highlighting the change in the line would make git diff more convenient for me.

git version 2.32.0

This should work on the command-line (no GUI).

Similar question: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/8800578/how-to-colorize-diff-on-the-command-line — guettli, Jan 20 '22 at 12:53
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5326008/highlight-changed-lines-and-changed-bytes-in-each-changed-line + https://github.com/git/git/tree/master/contrib/diff-highlight — terrorrussia-keeps-killing, Jan 20 '22 at 13:29

Inigo · Answer 1 · 2022-01-18T00:41:30.447

39

For example, git diff --word-diff=color:

and git diff --word-diff=plain:

There's also --word-diff-regex=<regex>

See git help diff for more info.

edited Jan 18 '22 at 00:41

answered Jan 16 '22 at 20:14

Inigo

4

If you want minimal highlighting, use `--word-diff-regex=.`, which is sometimes clearer (when changs that qualifiy as a "word" get noticeably longer than the "levels" change above, that's clear enough as-is). – jthill Jan 18 '22 at 01:06

score 7 · Accepted Answer · edited Jan 25 '22 at 15:09

7

If you're willing to use an extra tool, you may like diff-so-fancy and/or delta.

I used diff-so-fancy for years, and it's a great tool.
I switched to delta due to syntax highlight and the detection of multiple changes in a single line.

edited Jan 25 '22 at 15:09

Michael

answered Jan 24 '22 at 03:08

Pedro Rodrigues

score 1 · Answer 3 · edited Jan 20 '22 at 12:48

1

Use colordiff tool colordiff so you can use with the git diff to see all minor changes with color

yum install colordiff

# enter yout git repository
git diff --word-diff=color

for example in my directory the tool output the image below

:

edited Jan 20 '22 at 12:48

guettli

answered Jan 20 '22 at 12:36

Franz Kurt

While `colordiff` is useful for non-Git usage, the command `git diff --word-diff=color` operates just with Git’s own resources, it does not use `colordiff`. – Melebius Mar 23 '23 at 14:29

3 Answers3