Configuring diff tool with .gitconfig

user_384016 0
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How do I configure Git to use a different tool for diffing with the .gitconfig file?

I have this in my .gitconfig:

[diff]
    tool = git-chdiff #also tried /bin/git-chdiff

It does not work; it just opens the regular command line diff. When I do

export GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF=git-chdiff

then git diff will open up the external diffing tool (so I know the external diff tool script works fine). Do I have something wrong with my .gitconfig configuration for the diff tool?

git
10 Answers

An additional way to do that (from the command line):

git config --global diff.tool tkdiff
git config --global merge.tool tkdiff
git config --global --add difftool.prompt false

The first two lines will set the difftool and mergetool to tkdiff- change that according to your preferences. The third line disables the annoying prompt so whenever you hit git difftool it will automatically launch the difftool.

user_17737060

If you want to have an option to use multiple diff tools, add an alias to file .gitconfig:

[alias]
    kdiff = difftool --tool kdiff3
user_48611280

Refer to Microsoft's VS Code Tips and Tricks. Just run these commands in your terminal:

git config --global merge.tool code

But firstly you need add the code command to your PATH environment variable.

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user_43057430

Almost all the solutions in the previous answers doesn't work with Git version 2

Mine: Git version = 2.28.0

Solution of the difftool: git config --global diff.tool vimdiff

After it, you can use it without any problems.

user_122470110

In Windows we need to run the git difftool --tool-help command to see the various options like:

    'git difftool --tool=<tool>' may be set to one of the following:
                    vimdiff
                    vimdiff2
                    vimdiff3

    The following tools are valid, but not currently available:
                    araxis
                    bc
                    bc3
                    codecompare
                    deltawalker
                    diffmerge
                    diffuse
                    ecmerge
                    emerge
                    examdiff
                    gvimdiff
                    gvimdiff2
                    gvimdiff3
                    kdiff3
                    kompare
                    meld
                    opendiff
                    p4merge
                    tkdiff
                    winmerge
                    xxdiff

Some of the tools listed above only work in a windowed
environment. If run in a terminal-only session, they will fail.

And we can add any of them (for example, WinMerge) like

git difftool --tool=winmerge

For configuring Notepad++ to see files before committing:

 git config --global core.editor "'C:/Program Files/Notepad++/notepad++.exe' -multiInst -notabbar -nosession -noPlugin"

And using git commit will open the commit information in Notepad++.

user_51665870
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