Release notes, system requirements, & downloads

Araxis Merge 2025.0 22 April 2025

This release features a variety of quality-of-life improvements and significant under-the-hood changes. It is the first version of Merge to be released simultaneously for Windows and macOS. Please read the release notes below for a complete list of changes.

This is the current production-quality release that Araxis recommends for all users.

This release is free of charge for all customers with upgrade/support entitlement covering the build date indicated in the download box below, including everyone who purchased Merge within the year prior to that date.

System requirements

This release is tested and supported on the following platforms:

• Windows 11 24H2 AMD/Intel
• Windows 11 23H2 AMD/Intel
• Windows 10 22H2 64-bit AMD/Intel
• macOS 15.4 Sequoia Apple silicon and Intel
• macOS 14.7.5 Sonoma Apple silicon and Intel
• macOS 13.7.5 Ventura Apple silicon and Intel

The following platforms are also supported and expected to work but not routinely tested:

• Windows Server 2025 AMD/Intel
• Windows Server 2022 AMD/Intel
• Windows Server 2019 AMD/Intel

Notices

• Site and enterprise licences are now available to streamline purchasing and lower the TCO of Araxis Merge for larger organizations. These options complement our existing volume discounts and cross-platform licensing.

  A site licence covers all users directly employed by a single legal entity at a particular physical location. An enterprise licence covers all users directly employed by a single legal entity without geographic restriction. In both cases, one serial number covers all deployments for the licensed entity.

• We have updated the Araxis Privacy Policy. It now expressly states the pre-existing practice that:

  • Araxis Merge processes your files locally on your computer;
  • Araxis Merge never transmits your files to Araxis;
  • Araxis does not use your files to train AI models.

Enhancements

• Windows macOS Each new release of Merge now includes both Merge for Windows and Merge for macOS. Previously, each platform had an independent release cadence. This change has several benefits: #6973 #7000

  • It simplifies downloads and streamlines release notes.
  • Customers using Merge on both Windows and macOS now benefit from a combined release cycle with identical version numbers across both platforms.
  • It is easier for Araxis to align enhancements and bug fixes across platforms.

• Windows macOS Merge version numbers are now more succinct and easier to understand. The major version continues to reflect the year of release (e.g. 2025). The minor version now resets to 0 for the first release made in each year and increments for each subsequent release. #6973 #7000

• Windows We now code-sign the Merge for Windows setup packages and binaries using Microsoft Azure Trusted Signing. (Earlier versions of Merge for Windows were signed with a DigiCert EV certificate.) Microsoft Azure Trusted Signing ensures optimal trust on Windows platforms and provides assurance of the integrity and authenticity of the Araxis Merge setup packages and binaries. #7042

• Windows macOS We have rewritten the code that checks for newly available releases so that it performs identically on both macOS and Windows. Notification messages about new releases are more explicit and include the whole version number of any available update rather than just its build number. #6973

• macOS Merge for macOS update-notification messages are now identical to those of Merge for Windows. They now include relevant information about the expiry date of the current serial number and whether it will work with a newly available release. #6973

• Windows macOS The silencing of notification messages about newly available Merge updates is now specific to each release. For example, if you silence a notification for the 2025.1 release, Merge will notify you when 2025.2 becomes available. You can disable update notifications entirely with the pre-existing ApplicationNotificationsUpdates available for download setting. #6973

• macOS We have consolidated settings related to update checking. The ApplicationGeneralCheck online for product updates setting is removed, being subsumed into the ApplicationNotificationsUpdates available for download setting so that Merge no longer checks for updates when that notification is disabled. Windows Merge for Windows also now entirely suppresses update checking when this notification is disabled. #6973

• Windows Commands to manipulate the character encoding of a file are easier to discover and understand. The Set Encoding ribbon item is now an Encoding menu with two items: #6983

  • Reopen file with encoding… reopens the current file with a specified encoding.
  • Set encoding for file save… sets the character encoding used when you next save the current file.

  We have also replaced the text comparison Reopen file with encoding… context menu item with the new Encoding submenu.

  • We have removed the Reopen file with encoding… item from the context menu of binary and image comparisons.

• macOS Commands to manipulate the character encoding of a file are easier to discover and understand. The Set Encoding toolbar item is now an Encoding menu with two items: #6983

  • Reopen File with Encoding… reopens the current file with a specified encoding.
  • Set Encoding for File Save… sets the character encoding used when you next save the current file.

  We have also replaced the FileSet Character Encoding… menu item and the text comparison Reopen File with Encoding… context menu with the new Encoding submenu.

• macOS Merge now respects an expressly specified character encoding even when opening a file with a com.apple.TextEncoding extended attribute. #7028

• macOS Merge now respects the Try to auto-detect character encoding from file content setting when you have unchecked it, even for files that have a com.apple.TextEncoding extended attribute. #6961

• macOS In the text comparison file-open dialog, we have renamed the Encoding drop-down menu (revealed when you click the Show Options button) to Fallback encoding. The new name better reflects its purpose. #7056

• Windows macOS When opening a previously opened file with an entry in the history list, Merge now uses the character encoding recorded in the history list instead of an auto-detected encoding. This change reduces the necessity of manually specifying character encodings for files where auto-detection fails. #6962 #6999

• Windows On completion of a folder comparison, the first row with a change is no longer automatically selected if you already made a selection while the comparison was underway. #6894

• Windows The automatic selection of the first row with a change on completion of a folder comparison can be completely disabled using a new Windows Registry setting, EnableFolderComparisonAutoSelect, located under the key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Araxis\Merge\7.1. This setting defaults to 1 (enabled) but can be set to 0 using the Windows Registry Editor to disable the feature. #6894

• macOS On completion of a folder comparison, Merge now selects the first row with a change unless you already made a selection while the comparison was in process. You can disable automatic row selection by running the following command in a terminal: #6894

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

  To re-enable the feature, re-run the above command having replaced the final 0 with a 1.

• macOS Merge now associates the *.pdb file pattern with binary comparisons by default. This change brings Merge for macOS into line with Merge for Windows. #6936

• macOS Merge now considers a file in a comparison to be current when its file or folder entry field has input focus. Previously, the file panel itself had to have focus. #6983

• macOS Merge for macOS now sends registration information asynchronously in an identical manner to Merge for Windows rather than when the registration window closes. For more information about the registration information Merge sends to Araxis, please see the Registration topic. #6973

• Windows We have removed redundant C++ Automation API samples to reduce the size of the setup packages. We have also removed the example code for the previously deprecated DLL file filter. These changes have reduced the setup packages by several megabytes. #7074

• Windows macOS We have upgraded the OpenJDK Java Runtime Environment subset bundled with Merge to Adoptium Eclipse Temurin OpenJDK 21.0.6+7. #7033 #7054

• Windows macOS We have made it easier for us to keep the third-party libraries used by Merge updated with enhancements and security fixes. #7003 #7075

• This release updates the following dependencies: #7003 #7075

  • Windows macOS the Compile time regular expressions library to v3.9.0;
  • Windows macOS the zlib library to v1.3.1;
  • Windows the liblzma library to that from XZ Utils v5.8.1;
  • Windows the libpng library to v1.6.44;
  • Windows the libbzip2 library to that from bzip2 v1.0.8;
  • Windows the libarchive library to v3.7.7.

• Windows Merge now uses the latest Windows 11 SDK version 10.0.26100.0. #7043 #7065

• We have updated the copyright notices for 2025. #7045

Defects fixed

• Windows Merge now successfully sends registration information at most once for each particular release of Merge installed on a machine. Previously, Merge for Windows would erroneously send registration information each time Merge started. For more information about the registration information Merge sends to Araxis, please see the Registration topic. #6973

• Windows Merge now preserves the status of the Modified indicator for each file in a text comparison when you swap panes. #7034

• Windows Merge now draws extended linking lines correctly when it shows a transient message at the top of the centre pane of a three-way file comparison. #7036

• Windows macOS Merge now updates tab titles after saving a modified text pane with a new filename. #6987

• macOS Entries in the text-comparison history list now always display the actual character encoding last used to load or save the file. #6963

• macOS Merge now always respects an expressly specified character encoding when loading a text file, even when you have checked the Try to auto-detect character encoding from file content setting. Previously, Merge would ignore an expressly specified character encoding if it could auto-detect a suitable character encoding from a file’s contents. #6962

• macOS We have renamed the FileSave AsSave Preferences As… menu item to Save Settings As… #7023

Download

Araxis Merge pre-2025

Notes and downloads for versions of Merge released before 2025 are separated by platform:

• Pre-2025 Release Notes & System Requirements (Windows)
• Pre-2025 Release Notes & System Requirements (macOS)