Beyond Compare Releases

Scooter SoftwareFile Comparison Tools
Version 5.2.x (Aug 3, 2026)(23)

Learn what's new across releases, with details of features, enhancements, and resolved issues.

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Beyond Compare 5.2.5 (Build: 32528)Aug 3, 2026
Features
  • Windows: Added build number to installer window caption.
Fixes
  • Windows: Fixed Beyond Compare hanging on start-up on Windows 7.
  • Fixed Table Compare incorrectly decoding cells with date/time data.
  • Fixed Hex Compare "Go To" dialog not allowing addresses past 0x7FFFFFFF.
  • Fixed width of Folder Compare "Confirm File Replace" dialog in Russian localization.
Beyond Compare 5.2.4 (Build: 32425)Jul 22, 2026
Features
  • Updated 7-zip to v26.02. Fixes CVE-2026-14266.
  • Updated UnRAR source to v7.2.7 and UnRAR.dll to v7.2.3.
  • Windows: Updated Delphi to v13.1.
Fixes
  • Folder Compare
    • Windows: Fixed folders on FAT32 drives showing incorrect timestamps after opening them.
  • Crashes
    • Windows: Fixed crash when shutting down Beyond Compare with unsaved Text Compare edits.
    • Linux: Fixed crash when running on systems without SSE3 or SSE4 instructions.
Beyond Compare 5.2.3 (Build: 32296)Jun 29, 2026
Features
  • Notable Changes
    • Updated 7-zip to 26.01. Fixes CVE-2026-48095.
  • Options
    • Unchecking the Options > Tweaks > Check for Updates > Check every checkbox will hide the "New version available" notification.
  • Text Views
    • Third Party Libraries
      • Updated 7-zip to 26.01. Fixes CVE-2026-48095.
Fixes
  • Notable Changes
    • Fixed support for SFTP server-side CRC32 calculations using the check-file extension.
  • FTP
    • Fixed support for SFTP server-side CRC32 calculations using the check-file extension.
  • Misc
    • Fixed registering using license keys that have had letters combined into ligatures.
    • macOS/Linux: Fixed the "Enter Key..." dialog not auto-detecting license keys on the clipboard.
    • Fixed "Check for Updates" reporting of operating system version and CPU type.
  • Text Views
    • Text grammar regular expressions no longer unintentionally support 2 iterators in a row, e.g. "+*".
  • Crashes
    • Windows: Fixed crash when launching a comparison from the command line with extremely long paths while BC is already running.
    • Fixed Text Compare crash with specific grammar regular expression.
    • Fixed Table Compare crash when editing a cell.
    • Fixed Table Compare Report crash when opening from Folder Compare.
Beyond Compare 5.2.2 (Build: 32209)May 20, 2026
Features
  • Notable Changes
    • Dropping a .patch or .diff file on any view opens a Text Patch view.
    • Updated third party libraries.
  • Appearance
    • Improved default size for Home view and comparison windows.
    • Increased default width for the "File Formats" dialog.
  • Hex Compare
    • Added horizontal scrolling using mouse wheel.
  • Installer
    • Windows: Automatic updates no longer show the installer's initial prompt for the install type.
  • Picture Compare
    • Improved shutdown speed after using the Picture Compare on a system with many CPU cores.
  • Settings
    • "Export Settings" dialog checkbox to include passwords and authentication tokens is now on the first page instead of below the profiles list.
    • "Export Settings" option to export passwords and access tokens is now disabled if the DisableSavedPasswords admin policy is in effect.
  • Third Party Libraries
    • Windows: Updated ZipForge's zlib to 1.3.1. (SVN rr32125).
    • Windows: Updated bzip2 to v1.0.8. Fixes CVE-2019-12900.
    • Windows: Updated LZMA decoder to 7-zip SDK v26.0.
    • Windows: Replaced PPMd decoder with one from 7-zip SDK v26.0.
    • Windows: Updated WavPack to v5.9.0.
    • Windows: Updated UnRAR DLLs to v7.22.100.1950.
    • macOS/Linux: Updated UnRAR source to 7.2.6.
    • Updated 3delite FlacTagLibrary to v2.0.30.85.
    • Updated 3delite ID3v2Library to v2.1.95.215.
    • Updated 3delite MP4TagLibrary to v1.0.68.140.
Fixes
  • Appearance
    • Fixed Tools > Options > Appearance > Theme not reverting when canceling the dialog while "Preview" is checked.
    • Fixed dialogs sizing larger than they should the first time they're shown on a high DPI display.
    • Fixed Media Compare crosshatching not aligning between rows.
  • Folder Compare
    • Fixed log panel not opening to previously set height on high DPI displays.
    • Fixed log panel flickering over the top two lines in the comparison treeview when trying to resize it too large.
  • Installer
    • Windows: Automatic updates no longer show the installer's initial prompt for the install type.
  • Misc
    • Dropping a .patch or .diff file on any view opens a Text Patch view.
  • Settings
    • "Export Settings" dialog checkbox to include passwords and authentication tokens is now on the first page instead of below the profiles list.
    • "Export Settings" option to export passwords and access tokens is now disabled if the DisableSavedPasswords admin policy is in effect.
  • Table Compare
    • Fixed poor behavior when picking "Unimportant Column" from the header right-click menu followed by picking "Standard Column".
  • Crashes
    • Fixed Text Compare crash when using "Increase Indent" while "Word Wrap" is enabled.
    • Fixed Table Compare crash when pressing [Enter] in an empty editor pane.
    • Windows: Fixed Explorer shell extension crash.
    • macOS/Linux: Fixed crash in "File Formats" dialog when using an external conversion file format originally created on Windows.
    • macOS: Fixed crash when toggling a checkbox in a listbox when nothing is selected (e.g., Tools > Export Settings).
    • macOS: Fixed some listboxes with checkboxes incorrectly allowing a half-checked state.
Beyond Compare 5.2.1 (Build: 32035)Mar 24, 2026
Features
  • Notable Changes
    • General polish and stability improvements.
Fixes
  • Notable Changes
    • Windows: Fixed .docx conversion failures when the system ANSI codepage is a DBCS one.
    • Windows: Fixed report Print, Print Preview, and Print to PDF scaling fonts incorrectly.
    • Windows: Fixed crash when trying to uninstall a "Current User" install.
  • Appearance
    • Fixed Folder Sync's Session Settings > Sync icons showing as blank squares when editing a session from the Home View.
    • Linux: Fixed overly thick menu separators on high DPI displays.
    • Windows: Fixed width of indentation in treeview shown in Media Compare > Session Settings > Importance on high DPI displays.
  • Hex Compare
    • Fixed hex editor key handling ([Shift+Tab] keeps selection, [Shift+Left] updates selection, [Delete] affects next byte if none selected).
  • Home View
    • Fixed launching multiple comparisons from the Home View opening tabs in an inconsistent order.
  • Reports
    • Windows: Fixed Print, Print Preview, and Print to PDF scaling fonts incorrectly.
    • Windows: Fixed Print Preview scaling incorrectly on secondary monitors.
  • Text Views
    • Windows: Fixed .docx conversion failures when the system ANSI codepage is a DBCS one.
  • Crashes
    • Windows: Fixed crash when trying to uninstall a "Current User" install.
    • Linux: Fixed hang when using Help > Check for Updates to install a .deb or .rpm package.
    • Linux: Fixed hang when opening a comparison while the display is scaled by more than 200%.
    • macOS: Fixed crash when loading SVG images.
Beyond Compare 5.2.0 (Build: 31950)Major versionFeb 23, 2026
Features
  • Notable Changes
    • Added support for comparing and filtering Unix owner/group/file type and additional Windows file attributes (e.g., symbolic link, offline).
    • Expanded support for disabling features via admin policies.
    • Changed how saved passwords are stored. Exported profiles are compatible with previous versions, but downgrading an install will treat the passwords as blank.
    • Table Compare now ignores case and whitespace when aligning columns by name.
    • Fixed "Invalid key material type" error when connecting to Dropbox.
    • Linux: Updated to Qt 6.
    • Linux: Updated .deb packages for Deb822.
    • Various other enhancements and stability improvements.
  • Admin Policies
    • Expanded support for disabling features via admin policies:
      • Policies are stored in the registry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE on Windows and as /etc/bcompare.conf on macOS and Linux. See help for details.
      • Added DisableSavedPasswords policy to hide "Save Password" checkboxes.
      • Added DisableRemoteProfiles policy to disable FTP and cloud profiles. Read-only Subversion access is still enabled.
      • macOS/Linux: Added support for DisableCheckForUpdates policy.
      • Windows: Added /DisableCheckForUpdates, /DisableRemoteProfiles, and /DisableSavedPasswords switches to installer to enable their respective admin policies. /DisableCheckForUpdates is an alias to the existing /DisableUpdates one.
  • Appearance
    • macOS:
      • "File Formats" dialog now shows red for file formats that won't be used because a higher format matches the same file masks.
  • Folder Compare
    • Windows:
      • Added support for displaying, comparing, and filtering additional Windows file attributes (e.g., temporary, offline).
    • Added support for filtering symbolic links and other Unix special file types (e.g., FIFOs, sockets).
    • Added support for comparing files' Unix owner/group/permissions.
  • FTP / Cloud Services
    • Changed how saved passwords are stored. Exported profiles are compatible with previous versions, but downgrading an install will treat the passwords as blank.
    • macOS: FTP Profile > Server > Time zone edit no longer allows selecting folder items like "Africa" as a timezone.
  • Installer
    • Windows: Installer now supports dark mode and has an updated appearance.
    • Linux: Updated .deb packages for Deb822.
  • Misc
    • Windows: Code signing now only uses an SHA-256 signature rather than also dual signing with an SHA-1 signature.
    • Linux: Fixed "Help" button not appearing on dialogs depending on the desktop environment.
    • macOS: Improved behavior of dropdown treeviews (e.g., FTP Profile > Server > Time zone).
    • macOS: Multi-select treeviews (e.g., Home view "Sessions" list) now toggle selection on Cmd+clicks rather than Ctrl+clicks.
    • macOS: Showing a window-modal dialog when quitting now disables other open windows and keeps the one showing a sheet on top.
    • macOS/Linux: Fixed slow startup in trial mode.
  • Reports
    • Added "Revision" column option to Folder Compare reports.
  • Scripting
    • Extended scripting FILTER command with UNIXTYPE filter to match symbolic links, FIFOs, sockets, etc.
  • Table Compare
    • Column align by name now ignores case and whitespace.
  • Third Party Libraries
    • Updated FlexCel to v7.25.
    • Updated fpspreadsheet to Lazarus-CCR SVN trunk r9907.
    • Updated Free Pascal to v3.3.1, GitLab commit bb1c527.
    • Updated IndySockets to v10.6.3.12.
    • Updated Inno Setup to v6.6.1.
    • Updated JCL to v2.8.1.9330.
    • Updated Lazarus to v4.99, GitLab commit 480bdb7.
    • Updated madCollection to v5.2.0.
    • Updated SecureBlackBox to v24.0.9430.
    • Updated SMWord to 1.60(b44).
    • Updated Xpdf PdfToText to v4.06.
    • Updated ZipForge to v6.97.
Fixes
  • Appearance
    • Windows:
      • Font sizes no longer change slightly when moving between monitors with different scale factors.
      • Fixed file view "Align with..." mode labels for "Line # is marked" and "Select line(s) to align" drawing as black on black in dark mode.
      • Fixed visibility of I-beam with hourglass mouse cursor in dark mode.
      • Fixed detached merge output panel showing incorrectly sized images if it's on a monitor with different scaling than the main view.
    • Linux:
      • Mouse cursor for Picture Compare + and text editor I-beam when busy now use system-provided images to work around issues with Wayland fraction scaling.
      • Fixed buttons with icons (e.g., Session > Save Session As > New Subfolder) showing black text on a black background in dark mode.
    • macOS:
      • Fixed various buttons drawing the button shape smaller when they have focus (e.g., + and - buttons next to Home view search edit).
      • Fixed file view comparison results icon in status bar drawing upside down.
  • Folder Compare
    • Windows:
      • Fixed log always being closed in new views on high DPI monitors.
      • Fixed log height not scaling when moving between monitors with different scaling.
    • macOS/Linux: Keyboard shortcuts are now suppressed when in an inline rename edit.
    • Fixed "Close Subfolders" to work on selection instead of just current line, matching "Open Subfolders" behavior.
    • Fixed "Compare Contents" incorrectly disabling "Binary" and "Rules-based" when the base folders are network servers (\\server), and incorrectly enabling them when the selection is within an expanded snapshot file.
    • Fixed archive files created on a Unix system and stored on a Windows disk sorting incorrectly when sorting by the "Attribute" column.
  • FTP / Cloud Services
    • Fixed "Invalid key material type" error when connecting to Dropbox.
    • Fixed failure when using XCRC command with ProFTPD.
    • Fixed poor behavior when entering certain malformed URLs.
    • macOS: FTP Profile > Server > Time zone edit no longer allows selecting folder items like "Africa" as a timezone.
  • Hex Compare
    • Fixed Find panel losing focus when pressing [Enter].
  • Installer
    • Linux: Fixed .tar.gz package including an unintentional installer.sh, separate from the intended install.sh.
    • Linux: Fixed .rpm package's PROVIDES section listing unnecessary files.
  • Misc
    • Windows: Code signing now only uses an SHA-256 signature rather than also dual signing with an SHA-1 signature.
    • Linux: Fixed "Help" button not appearing on dialogs depending on the desktop environment.
    • macOS: Showing a window-modal dialog when quitting now disables other open windows and keeps the one showing a sheet on top.
    • macOS/Linux: Fixed slow startup in trial mode.
  • Table Compare
    • Column align by name now ignores case and whitespace.
    • Fixed keeping current row at same relative position in the view when changing the display filter.
  • Text Views
    • Windows: Fixed displaying lines longer than 65535 characters.
  • Crashes
    • Fixed crash when loading a 7-zip archive and then trying to access a file that has been removed from the archive.
    • Linux: Fixed Report "Print Preview" crashes, missing pages, and slow behavior.
    • macOS: Fixed crashes when closing windows.
    • macOS/Linux: Fixed crash when opening a new tab while doing an inline rename in a Folder Compare view, among other places.
    • macOS: Fixed crash when using "Next Difference Files" opens a different compare view.
    • macOS: Fixed Folder Compare crash when pressing [Ctrl] key while file operations are occurring.