# Three-Way Text Comparison & Merge Suite Line/word/char diff with ignore rules, three-way merge with conflict markers, and unified patch > Canonical page: https://elysiatools.com/en/tools/three-way-text-comparison-merge-suite - **Category:** Text Processing - **Keywords:** three-way merge, diff, text comparison, merge conflict, patch, unified diff, git merge, diff3 ## Overview Compares two texts at line, word, or character granularity with optional case/whitespace ignoring, performs a three-way merge of two branches against a common ancestor (marking conflicts Git-style), and emits a unified patch. Based on jsdiff (LCS). Pure local — no AI, no network. ## Inputs - **Base / ancestor (O)** (textarea): Common ancestor text (required for 3-way merge) - **Branch A (ours)** (textarea): First text / our branch - **Branch B (theirs)** (textarea): Second text / their branch - **Mode** (select) - **Granularity** (select) - **Ignore case** (checkbox) - **Ignore whitespace** (checkbox) - **Context lines** (number) ## When to use - Review additions, removals, and changes between two versions of a text. - Combine two edited branches while checking for changes made in the same area. - Create a unified patch showing how to change Branch A into Branch B. ## How it works - Enter Branch A and Branch B in the two required text areas. - For a three-way merge, also enter the common ancestor in the Base / ancestor field. - Choose Two-way diff, Three-way merge, or Patch, then select line, word, or character granularity. - Optionally ignore case or whitespace and set the number of context lines for patch output. ## Use cases - Compare revised documentation, configuration text, or source code at the level that best exposes the change. - Merge independent edits from two branches using a common ancestor and identify overlapping changes. - Prepare a compact unified patch for reviewing or communicating text changes. ## Frequently asked questions ### What inputs are required? Branch A and Branch B are required. A Base / ancestor text is needed for three-way merge mode. ### What comparison levels are supported? You can compare text by lines, words, or characters. ### Can the comparison ignore case or whitespace? Yes. Enable Ignore case or Ignore whitespace before running the comparison. ### How are three-way conflicts shown? Conflicts are marked with Git-style conflict markers so you can review both branch changes. ### What does Patch mode produce? Patch mode produces a unified patch describing the changes from Branch A to Branch B. ## Related tools - [Advanced Duplicate Line Remover](https://elysiatools.com/en/tools/advanced-duplicate-line-remover): Detect and remove duplicate lines with advanced options for mode, case sensitivity, and trimming - [Remove Duplicate Lines](https://elysiatools.com/en/tools/remove-duplicate-lines): Deduplicate lines in a list or text block. Keep the first or last occurrence, with options for case sensitivity, whitespace trimming, and dropping empty lines. - [Text Repeater](https://elysiatools.com/en/tools/text-repeater): Repeat text N times with a chosen separator — inline, new line, or a numbered countdown. The quick tool for chat spam, dramatic build-ups, and social-media effect. - [Whitespace Normalizer](https://elysiatools.com/en/tools/whitespace-normalizer): Replace consecutive spaces/tabs with single space and trim line start/end whitespace - [Smart Quote Wrapper](https://elysiatools.com/en/tools/quote-wrapper): Wrap whole text, lines, or sentences with typographic quotes, nested quote pairs, and language-aware punctuation. - [Strikethrough Text](https://elysiatools.com/en/tools/strikethrough-text): Add a strikethrough line through every character via the Unicode combining mark U+0336. Plain text — no markdown needed. - [Add Symbols Around Words](https://elysiatools.com/en/tools/text-add-symbols-words): Quickly add patterns before and after each word in text - [Text Diff](https://elysiatools.com/en/tools/text-diff): Compare two text inputs and show differences ## Samples - [Text with Emoji Samples](https://elysiatools.com/en/samples/text-with-emoji-samples): Mixed language text containing various Unicode emojis for testing emoji extraction - [Truffle Development Suite Samples](https://elysiatools.com/en/samples/truffle-samples): Truffle Ethereum development framework examples including smart contracts, testing, deployment, migrations, debugging, and development workflows - [Chinese-English Mixed Text Samples](https://elysiatools.com/en/samples/text-chinese-english-mixed-samples): Sample text files with mixed Chinese and English content for testing automatic spacing tools - [Text Case Format Samples](https://elysiatools.com/en/samples/text-case-formats): Examples of different text case formats: camelCase, snake_case, kebab-case, PascalCase, and more ## Related content - [Text Case, Encoding, and Normalization Conversion Tools](https://elysiatools.com/en/hubs/text-convert): Compare text case conversion, character-width conversion, encoding conversion, quoted-printable handling, and inline text normalization tools in one hub. - [Text Tools](https://elysiatools.com/en/hubs/text-utility): Explore 33 text tools for utility workflows and compare closely related utilities quickly. - [Text Analysis, Readability, and Content Inspection Tools](https://elysiatools.com/en/hubs/text-analyze): Compare text statistics, language detection, readability scoring, sentiment analysis, moderation review, and pattern analysis tools in one hub. - [Text Redaction, Highlighting, and Presentation Formatting Tools](https://elysiatools.com/en/hubs/text-format): Compare tools for masking sensitive text, finding PII, normalizing phone numbers, highlighting phrases, centering text, and formatting diffs in one hub.