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Use GNU diff3 with the common ancestor as the second file: diff3 mine older yours. To create a reviewable merge without overwriting the inputs, run diff3 -m mine older yours > merged, then inspect and resolve any conflict markers in merged.
How diff3 compares three files
A three-way comparison uses two edited files and their common ancestor. GNU diff3 expects them in this order: mine older yours. In a merge, it applies changes from older to yours to mine. The order matters: putting the ancestor in the wrong position changes how the merge is interpreted.
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Create a merged file safely
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Keep the original files unchanged and choose a separate output filename.
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Run
diff3 -m mine older yours > merged. The-m(or--merge) option writes the merged result to standard output; shell redirection saves it asmerged.#1 Best Overall
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Open
mergedand review the whole result before replacing any original file. With no other edit-script option specified,-massumes-A, so unresolved conflicts are marked in the output. -
For each conflict, compare the ancestor and both edited versions, decide what the final content should be, and remove the conflict markers. Save the file only after checking that the result is complete and syntactically appropriate for its intended use.
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Typical conflict markers include <<<<<<< mine, =======, and >>>>>>> yours. They identify competing text; they are not an automatic choice of the correct version.
Choose an output mode
| Option | Output and use |
|---|---|
-m or --merge |
Writes merged text to standard output. Use it with redirection to create a file you can inspect. |
-A or --show-all |
Includes all unmerged changes and marks conflicts. It is the default merge behavior assumed by -m when no edit-script option is specified. |
-E or --show-overlap |
Like -e, but brackets overlapping changes from the first and third files. |
-X |
Marks only overlapping changes, like -x with conflict brackets. |
-e |
Produces an ed script incorporating unmerged changes from older to yours into mine, rather than a directly readable merged file. |
-3 |
Limits the ed script to nonoverlapping changes. |
-x |
Limits the ed script to overlapping changes. |
For an output file to review, -m is usually the more direct choice than generating an ed script. The GNU Diffutils manual explains that -e, -3, and -x ignore changes from older to yours when mine and yours are identical, on the assumption that those changes were already merged. If that assumption may be wrong, use -A to include all unmerged changes.
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Understand conflicts and overlaps
A conflict occurs when mine and older do not match near a change being applied. An overlap is the case where all three inputs differ. Options such as -E and -X affect which changes are shown or bracketed; they do not resolve the content for you. Use the ancestor to understand what changed, then make and verify the intended combined result.
Interpret the command’s exit status
-
Status
0: the command completed successfully without reporting conflicts.Rank #4
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Status
1: conflicts were found. In merge mode, the output can still contain a useful result, but it needs review.Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy. -
Status
2: trouble occurred; investigate the command or its inputs rather than treating this as an ordinary conflict-bearing merge.Best Value
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Scripts should distinguish status 1 from status 2. Treating every nonzero status as the same failure can discard or mishandle a merge result that was produced with conflicts.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Label conflict sections and handle special inputs
Use --label=label to change the names shown in conflict brackets. You can provide this option up to three times for the three input files. At most one file argument may be -, which tells diff3 to read that input from standard input.
The GNU manual documents that -m works with binary files and incomplete lines as well. That does not make the resulting interpretation or conflict markers self-validating: review the output using a method appropriate to the file type.
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This guide follows the GNU Diffutils 3.12 manual, dated 12 January 2025. Linux distributions may package different versions, and the manual does not establish that every distribution or non-GNU implementation supports the same options. Check the installed command with diff3 --version and diff3 --help if an option is unavailable.
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