# How to compare two PDF files on Mac | Nudocs Source: https://nudocs.ai/guides/compare-two-pdf-files-mac Updated: 2026-11-08 Compare two PDF files on your Mac Compare two PDFs on a Mac: Acrobat Pro’s Compare Files report, a manual check in Preview, and Nudocs for comparing key facts with their sources. For Macs with Apple silicon running macOS 13 or later. A Nutrient DWS account is required. The Mac app is free; document and AI services use DWS free allowances or paid usage, depending on your plan and task. ## Short answer Apple’s Preview guide doesn’t list a way to compare two PDFs, so on a Mac there are three routes. Adobe Acrobat Pro’s Compare Files tool puts the differences between two versions in a report. In Preview, you can search both files for the values that matter. Or you can ask Nudocs to compare specific facts, such as dates and fees, and cite both sources. That last option is a fact comparison, not a visual diff or a list of every change. ## Compare Files in Acrobat Pro Adobe’s help page for Compare Files is labelled for Acrobat Pro. The report opens as a new document. Its first page summarizes the differences, and a side-by-side view shows the old file on the left and the new one on the right, with changes highlighted. Compare text only ignores differences in graphics, and Settings lets you limit the comparison to certain pages. On a Mac, save the report with File > Save. Adobe lists these steps: - Open both versions of the file in Acrobat. - From the All tools pane, select Compare files. - Check which file is the old one and which is the new one; use Change File or the swap arrows to fix it. - Select Compare. Sources: - [Adobe: Compare two versions of a PDF file (Acrobat Pro)](https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/compare-documents.html) ## Check two PDFs by hand in Preview Apple’s Preview guide doesn’t list a feature for comparing two PDFs. For a short document, or when only a few values matter, a manual check works. Write down the values you need to confirm, such as dates, amounts and names. Open each PDF and type each value into the Preview search field; if you type a phrase, Preview searches for that exact phrase. A value that turns up in one file and not the other is worth a closer look. To compare a passage word by word, select it with Tools > Text Selection, copy it, and paste both versions into a document side by side. Sources: - [Apple: Find text in PDFs in Preview on Mac](https://support.apple.com/guide/preview/find-text-in-pdfs-prvw2014/mac) - [Apple: Select and copy text in a PDF in Preview on Mac](https://support.apple.com/guide/preview/select-and-copy-text-in-a-pdf-prvw1020/mac) ## If you still have the Word files If both PDFs were made from Word documents you still have, compare those instead. In Word for Mac, open one version, then on the Review tab select Compare > Compare Documents and choose the original and the revised document. Word shows the differences with revision marks in a new document and leaves the original untouched. Sources: - [Microsoft: Compare and merge two versions of a document](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/compare-and-merge-two-versions-of-a-document-f5059749-a797-4db7-a8fb-b3b27eb8b87e) ## With Nudocs Nudocs is a document agent for your Mac. You can ask it to compare documents and show where their facts agree, conflict or leave a question open, with citations to both. It suits questions such as “did the price, the delivery date or the warranty change between these two quotes?” Name the facts that matter, ask for both sides of any conflict rather than one combined value, and read the cited passages before you act on the result. This is a fact comparison with sources. It is not a visual or pixel comparison of the pages, and a summary of selected facts is not an exhaustive version diff. If every change matters, use a full comparison tool such as Acrobat Pro’s Compare Files, or read both documents in full. Nudocs runs on Macs with Apple silicon and macOS 13 or later, and you need a Nutrient DWS account. The Mac app is free; document and AI services use DWS free allowances or paid usage. Depending on the task, your instructions and document content may be sent to AI providers and Nutrient services, so read the desktop Privacy Policy before you add files. ## Example request Compare the prices, delivery dates and warranty terms in these two supplier quotes. Show the value from each quote side by side, cite where each one appears, and flag anything that appears in only one of them. ## What to check - Open the cited page in each PDF for every value you plan to rely on. - Make sure conflicting values are shown separately, with the file each came from. - Resolve open questions with the right source before you act. - If wording, layout or images matter, run a full comparison as well. - Keep both original PDFs unchanged. ## Questions ### Can Preview compare two PDFs? Apple’s Preview guide doesn’t list a compare feature. You can search both files for the same values with the search field and check the results yourself. ### How do I compare two PDF documents for differences on a Mac? For a full report, Adobe’s help page for Acrobat Pro describes the Compare files tool: open both versions, select Compare files from the All tools pane, then select Compare. To check particular facts with sources, you can ask Nudocs. ### Does Nudocs highlight every difference between two PDFs? No. Nudocs compares the facts you ask about and cites both sources. It is not a visual comparison and not a list of every change. ### What do I need to use Nudocs? A Mac with Apple silicon running macOS 13 or later, and a Nutrient DWS account, which you sign in to the first time the app opens. The Mac app is free. Document and AI services use DWS free allowances or paid usage, depending on your plan and task. ## Related - [Document comparison](https://nudocs.ai/workflows/document-comparison) - [Compare two Word documents](https://nudocs.ai/guides/compare-two-word-documents-mac) - [Edit a PDF without Adobe](https://nudocs.ai/guides/edit-pdf-on-mac-without-adobe) ## Get started - [Download Nudocs for Mac](https://agent-cdn.nutrient.io/nudocs/mac/stable/arm64/Nudocs-arm64.dmg): Free Mac app for Apple silicon. - [Current DWS allowances and paid options](https://www.nutrient.io/api/pricing/) - [Desktop Privacy Policy](https://nudocs.ai/desktop/privacy-policy) - [Desktop Terms of Use](https://nudocs.ai/desktop/terms) - [Contact](mailto:nudocs@nutrient.io)