Frequently Asked Questions

This topic holds the answers to common questions that are asked about Merge for macOS. If you have a question that should be in this FAQ, please contact Araxis.

Before you purchase

What are the system requirements for Merge for macOS?

Please see the Release Notes & System Requirements (macOS) for this information.

What is the difference between the Standard and Professional Editions of Merge?

Please see the Feature Summary and Differences Between Editions for this information.

Does Araxis offer floating (network) licences for Merge?

Araxis does not currently offer network (floating) licences or site licences for Merge, although we are aware of strong demand and will consider offering network licences in the future.

Please note that quantity discounts are available for the Professional Edition of Merge.

Please see the End-User Licence Agreement for Araxis Merge Software for full terms and conditions.

How many licences do I need to buy?

A licence must be purchased for each machine where the product is to be used. The only exception to this is that the primary user of a computer for which a licence has been purchased may make a second copy for his or her exclusive use on a second computer. This means that you can buy a single Merge licence and then use it simultaneously on both a Windows PC and a Mac, provided you are the only person using that licence.

Please see the End-User Licence Agreement for Araxis Merge Software for full terms and conditions.

If I buy new serial numbers, will they work with Merge for Windows as well as Merge for macOS?

Yes. See also ‘How many licences do I need to buy?’

If I buy new serial numbers, will they work with earlier versions of Merge as well as the current version?

Yes. Newly-purchased serial numbers will work with versions of Merge back to and including Merge 2012.4246, as well the current version of Merge.

How does support renewal work?

Please see Understanding Serial Numbers, Support Expiry & Upgrade/Support Entitlement and Buy Araxis Merge.

Is there a version of Merge for Windows?

Yes. Please see the Merge for Windows page on the Araxis website.

Is there a version of Merge for Linux?

Unfortunately, no. Customers at one time reported that Merge would run under Wine on Linux. This sadly no longer appears to be the case. We should be grateful to hear from customers that are able to run Merge successfully under Wine.

Another possibility is to run Merge and Windows under Linux using a virtual machine environment such as VirtualBox or VMware Workstation.

Installation

How do I reset my settings to their original post-installation state?

Follow the steps to delete crash logs and remove settings described in the How to Uninstall topic.

How do I upgrade an older version of Merge?

Please see Upgrading Merge or Installing Newer Builds.

I’ve upgraded from Standard to Professional. How do I enter my new serial number?

Click on the Re-Register… button in the Araxis Merge▸About Araxis Merge dialog to re-enter registration information.

I’m having problems installing Merge, what should I do?

Please see Troubleshooting Installation for solutions to most installation problems.

How do I find out the version and build number of my Merge installation?

The Araxis Merge▸About Araxis Merge dialog displays the version and build number information.

How do I uninstall Merge?

Please see How to Uninstall.

How do I make my Merge serial number work for all users on my Mac?

To make your Merge serial number apply to all users of the your Mac, without having to enter it for every single user:

Set up and register Merge normally for a single user. Quit Merge.
Logged-on as that user, open the Keychain Access application from the Application/Utilities folder.
Locate the Araxis Merge application password entry in the login keychain.
Drag this entry to the System keychain. (You may need to enter your password to modify the System keychain.)

Using Merge effectively

Can I use Merge to compare Microsoft Word or other application documents?

Merge comes with filters for opening and comparing the text content of several popular file formats, including Word documents. See Comparing Text Files (or Typed/Pasted Text) for more details.

Alternatively, you can copy and paste any text from other applications into a Merge file comparison window. So, simply open a new two-way file comparison, then copy the text from one document (in Microsoft Word, press Cmd+A to select the entire document, followed by Cmd+C to copy it to the clipboard) and paste it into the left file pane (click in the pane, then press Cmd+V to paste). Then, repeat, pasting the text of the second document revision that you wish to compare into the right file pane. The differences between the documents will then be shown. This is an effective way to compare, for example, different drafts of a contract being edited with Microsoft Word.

A further possibility for some application formats not supported by Merge (e.g. Microsoft PowerPoint .pptx files) is to open them in their native applications and save them to a different, supported format (e.g. .ppt).

How do I compare PDF files as text instead of images, or vice versa?

Merge for macOS is able to compare PDF files in two ways: either by extracting the text content from them and performing a text comparison, or by rendering the PDF files as a series of images (one per page) and comparing those as an image comparison. For text-based PDFs, the former is probably more appropriate.

To have Merge compare PDFs using a text comparison:

Open the Settings window and go to the File Comparisons▸File Types page.
Check the row for a Text Comparison with the *.pdf pattern.
Uncheck the row for Image Comparison with the uti:com.adobe.pdf pattern.
For text comparisons involving documents, you may also find it helpful to configure an appropriate proportionally spaced font (e.g. Georgia) from the Fonts/Colours settings page, and also to turn on word-wrapping.

To have Merge compare PDFs as images using an image comparison:

Open the Settings window and go to the File Comparisons▸File Types page.
Uncheck the row for a Text Comparison with the *.pdf pattern.
Check the row for Image Comparison with the uti:com.adobe.pdf pattern.

Which version control (VC) or software configuration management (SCM) systems work with Merge?

Please see Integrating with Source Control, Configuration Management, and Other Applications for the latest information.

If you are the developer of a VC or SCM system, Araxis would be pleased to assist you integrate Merge with your product. Please contact Araxis for further information.

What is the recommended way to use three-way file merging?

Please see Three-Way File Comparisons and Automatic File Merging for this information.

How can I review all the changes I have made before saving?

It is sometimes useful to be able to review all the changes you have made before saving. If you have the Professional Edition of Merge, you can do this for two-way comparisons using the three-way comparison capability.

Open the file that you will be merging from into the left pane and the file that you will be merging into in both the middle and right panes. Whenever something is merged from the left file into the middle one, or if any other change is made to the middle file, the right pane shows exactly what the changes were. This enables you to review all the merges and changes you have made before saving.

How do I make the folder comparison show just added and deleted files?

Use the Visibility Filters… menu item in the Hide Reveal toolbar button or Actions▸Hide/Reveal menu to choose exactly which files and folders you wish to see.

How do I type a tab character in the Merge in-place editor?

By default, pressing Tab on its own moves you between the various panes in Merge file comparison windows. Use Option+Tab if you want to insert a tab character into the file you are editing.

You can change this behaviour on the Text Comparisons▸Editing settings page.

How do I create a permanent record of comparison results?

Merge provides the ability to create reports from file and folder comparisons. Please see Creating a File Comparison Report and Creating a Folder Comparison Report for more information. Alternatively, print a comparison and Save as PDF… to create a PDF.

How can I navigate between changes in the file comparison window?

The small Previous change in pane and Next change in pane buttons below the scroll bars can be used to jump to the previous or next change.
Click the Previous Change in Comparison or Next Change in Comparison toolbar buttons to move to the previous or next change.
There are also several keyboard shortcuts that can be used.

What is the difference between a change and a conflict?

A conflict occurs in a three-way merging scenario where a two later revisions of the common ancestor file have been modified in different ways at the same location relative to the common ancestor file. The Automatic File Merging topic shows an example of a merging conflict. A change is simply a difference between two files. Linking lines show how the lines in one file are changed with respect to the other file.

How can I make Merge show only the changes between files?

Merge provides the ability to compress blocks of unchanged lines so that just a few lines for context are displayed. Please see the Display help topic for more details.

I’m comparing files with columns or fields of characters within which changes should be ignored. How can I tell Merge to do this?

Changes occurring within numbered columns, or column ranges, can be ignored by using the controls on the General settings page. To omit fields or sequences of characters that don’t always appear at the same absolute position within the line, create a regular expression using the controls on the Lines settings page. When entering the expression, choose the Ignore sequences of characters that match the expression setting to ignore changes within the matching characters. Please see the Edit Line Expression window’s help topic for more details.

How does the `View`▸`Hide Empty Folders` command in the folder comparison window work?

This command isn’t a toggle. When you use it, Merge will look through the comparison results list and hide any folders that don’t contain visible files. If you use the command before the folder comparison has completed, folders could be hidden even if they eventually contain visible files when the comparison finishes. Wait until the comparison has completed before using the command.

How can I configure Merge to open new comparisons tabs to the right of existing ones?

By default, Merge for macOS opens new comparison tabs to the left of existing ones. As of Merge 2022.5758, this behaviour can be changed using Open new tabs on the right (rather than left) checkbox on the General settings page.

The older Merge 2022.5706 release also supported the configuration of this behaviour via a command-line, as described below.

To configure Merge 2022.5706 to open new tabs to the right of existing ones:

Ensure Merge is not running.

Launch the macOS Terminal utility and run:

defaults write com.araxis.merge "MergeV2" -dict-add AddTabsToRight "json:1"

To configure Merge 2022.5706 to open new tabs to the left of existing ones:

Ensure Merge is not running.

Launch the macOS Terminal utility and run:

defaults write com.araxis.merge "MergeV2" -dict-add AddTabsToRight "json:0"

How can I turn-off font smoothing (anti-aliasing) for text comparisons?

To disable anti-aliasing on Merge 2019.5229 or later:

Exit Merge if it is still running. Next, open a macOS Terminal window and run the following command:

defaults write com.araxis.merge MergeV2 -dict-add DisableTextAntialiasing json:1

To turn anti-aliasing back on, exit Merge and run:

defaults write com.araxis.merge MergeV2 -dict-add DisableTextAntialiasing json:0

To disable anti-aliasing for Merge 2019.5137 and earlier:

Open a macOS Terminal window, then run the following command:

defaults write com.araxis.merge DisableAntialiasing 1

If Merge is running, the change will take effect as soon as Merge re-draws a text comparison.

To turn anti-aliasing back on, run:

defaults write com.araxis.merge DisableAntialiasing 0

Does Merge for macOS have an FTP plugin so that I can perform comparisons involving content on an FTP server?

Read-only access to FTP sites can be gained by connecting to the FTP server in Finder. To do this, choose the Go▸Connect to Server… menu item in Finder, then enter your FTP server in the Server Address field, e.g. ftp://ftp.example.com/. Merge can then access and read the FTP site (mounted under /Volumes) as it would any other network volume.

For read-write access to an FTP site using free but unsupported software:

Install FUSE for macOS, making sure to select MacFUSE Compatibility Layer in addition to the packages selected by default.
Install the 64-bit build of MacFusion, available from Patrick Robertson’s website.
Launch MacFusion and select FTPFS from the first drop-down button. Enter the details of your FTP server and click OK.
A new entry for your FTP server should now be listed and can be mounted by clicking the Mount button.
Once mounted, the FTP site appears as a Finder volume and can be used by Merge like any other network volume.

A commercial and supported alternative for read-write FTP access is Panic’s Transmit application, which enables FTP and SFTP servers, and Amazon S3 buckets, to be mounted as Finder volumes and used by Merge.

How can I speed up large file comparisons (and recomparisons, as I edit files)?

Merge generally compares files very quickly. However, for those situations where comparisons take more time, applying the following suggestions can improve matters.

Disable any unnecessary regular expressions (Araxis Merge▸Settings…▸Text Comparisons▸Expressions).
Uncheck the Araxis Merge▸Settings…▸Text Comparisons▸Lines▸Ignore characters in the following column numbers/ranges setting.
On the Araxis Merge▸Settings…▸Text Comparisons▸Display page, choose Don’t show changes within lines or Show simplified inline changes.
Uncheck the Araxis Merge▸Settings…▸Text Comparisons▸Syntax Highlighting▸Use syntax highlighting for recognized file types setting.

How can I speed up folder comparisons?

Merge is optimized to compare even large folder hierarchies very quickly. However, folder comparison performance is highly dependent upon several Merge settings. For the fastest folder comparisons:

Uncheck the Araxis Merge▸Settings…▸Folder Comparisons▸Scan▸Use filter programs for files in folder comparisons setting.
Uncheck the Araxis Merge▸Settings…▸Folder Comparisons▸Scan▸Gather line-count statistics for inserted and removed files setting.
Uncheck the Araxis Merge▸Settings…▸Folder Comparisons▸Scan▸Scan contents of folders excluded by filters setting, and the Scan contents of files excluded by filters setting on the same page.
Choose the Araxis Merge▸Settings…▸Folder Comparisons▸Method▸File timestamps and sizes only comparison method.
Check the Araxis Merge▸Settings…▸Folder Comparisons▸Method▸Compare byte-by-byte for files larger than # KB setting, and consider reducing the file size threshold for byte-by-byte comparison setting on the same page from the default 512 KB.

Troubleshooting

Why isn’t a particular shortcut key working for me?

It is likely that macOS, or some other application on your system, has intercepted the key for its own purposes. You can view (and modify) the list of keyboard shortcuts used by macOS:

in macOS 13 Ventura and later, open System Settings▸Keyboard and click the Keyboard Shortcuts… button;
in macOS 12 Monterey and earlier, open System Preferences▸Keyboard▸Shortcuts.

I’ve opened a file with a Far East code page, and all I can see is boxes where characters should be. Why?

You should choose a font on the File Comparisons▸Fonts/Colours settings page that is able to display all the characters for the character encoding that you are using.

How can I tell whether I was given the correct serial number when I purchased Merge?

Please see Understanding Serial Numbers, Support Expiry & Upgrade/Support Entitlement for information about your serial number.

Why are some pages unavailable in the Print dialog?

By default, the 64-bit version of Merge will be used on 64-bit capable systems. Unfortunately, not all printer driver suppliers currently supply 64-bit versions of their printer drivers. You may therefore see a message ‘The bundle XXXX could not be loaded because it does not contain a version for the current architecture’ for some settings pages in the Print dialog.

If a new printer driver is available, try using that. Alternatively, you can run the 32-bit version of Merge by right-clicking on the Araxis Merge application icon, choosing Get Info, and then checking the Open in 32 Bit Mode checkbox.

A ‘Not authorized to send Apple events to Araxis Merge’ message appears when running Araxis command-line utilities. What can I do?

An application must first be authorized before it can control other applications using Apple events. Since the Merge command-line utilities control the main Merge application using Apple events, any application wishing to run the command-line utilities must itself be given authorization to control Merge.

If you encounter this error message, you can try manually granting the necessary authorization to the application from which you are running the Merge command-line utilities.

To give an application authorization to control Merge on macOS 13 Ventura and later:

From macOS System Settings, select the Privacy & Security item.
Under the Privacy section, select Automation.
In the list of applications, find the application from which you wish to run the Merge command-line utilities. Ensure that Araxis Merge is listed under it and that its toggle is in the on position.

If Araxis Merge is not listed under the entry for your application, it is likely that the application has not yet tried to run a Merge command-line utility. When an application first tries to run a Merge command-line utility, macOS will ask you whether to authorize that application to control Merge and will add an entry to this list.

To give an application authorization to control Merge on macOS 12 Monterey and earlier:

From macOS System Preferences, select the Security & Privacy item.
Select the Privacy tab.
From the list on the left, select Automation.
In the list of applications on the right, find the application from which you wish to run the Merge command-line utilities. Ensure that Araxis Merge is listed under it and that its checkbox is checked.

If Araxis Merge is not listed under the entry for your application, it is likely that the application has not yet tried to run a Merge command-line utility. When an application first tries to run a Merge command-line utility, macOS will ask you whether to authorize that application to control Merge and will add an entry to this list.

Merge is behaving strangely. What can I do?

Follow the steps to delete crash logs and remove settings described in the How to Uninstall topic. If that doesn’t solve the problem, try completely uninstalling Merge and re-installing. If you still encounter difficulties, please contact Araxis for assistance.

Miscellaneous

May I link to the Merge home page?

Yes, please do! To avoid any danger of broken links, it is best if you link to https://www.araxis.com/ or https://www.araxis.com/merge/.