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Compare two ZIP files in VS Code

Run Archive Explorer: Compare Two Archives... (Pro) in ZIP Viewer, or right-click an archive. It lists the files added, removed or changed between two ZIP, JAR, VSIX or TAR builds as a Markdown report. Browsing, opening entries, name search and extraction are free. The compare is a Zovo Pro tool with 3 free tries.

Free, MIT license. Extension ID zovo.zip-archive-explorer, version 0.2.2. Needs VS Code 1.90.0 or newer.

Also free from Zovo: Hex Viewer & Binary Viewer, VS Code Marketplace · Open VSX (Cursor, Windsurf).

This guide is also in Français, Italiano, Português (Brasil), Polski, 简体中文.

Steps in VS Code

1. Install ZIP Viewer & Archive Explorer from the Marketplace, or press Ctrl+P (Cmd+P on macOS) and run ext install zovo.zip-archive-explorer.
2. Open the Command Palette and run Archive Explorer: Compare Two Archives... (Pro), or right-click one of the archives in the Explorer.
3. Choose the two archives you want to compare.
4. Read the Markdown report. It lists the files added, removed or changed, by size and CRC-32, or by the bytes when there is no CRC.
5. The first 3 runs are free. A try counts only after the tool shows its result, so Escape or Cancel costs nothing.
6. To look at a changed file, open each archive and double-click the entry. It opens in a normal read-only tab.

Where Zovo Pro saves time

Browsing archives, opening entries, name search and extraction are free. The compare report is a Pro tool.

Export the entry list saves every entry with size, packed size, ratio, CRC-32, date and method as CSV or JSON for a script or CI check. Find a file in all archives of a folder searches the entry names of every ZIP, JAR, WAR, VSIX, TAR and GZ file under a folder, for example log4j*.jar.

With Compare two archives (Zovo Pro)

7. Run Archive Explorer: Export Entry List as CSV or JSON... (Pro) on each build and keep the JSON for a CI check.
8. Run Archive Explorer: Find a File in All Archives of a Folder... (Pro) and type a name such as log4j*.jar.
9. Pick a match to open it. Each Pro tool has its own 3 free tries.

Compare two archives works 3 times on your computer before it asks for a license, and a try counts only when you get a result. Opening a file shows no popup and no countdown.

Zovo Pro costs USD 19 once. It is not a subscription, and it turns on the Pro tools in every Zovo extension, not only ZIP Viewer & Archive Explorer. After a card payment (Stripe) your license key shows on the next page. In VS Code, run "Zovo Pro: Enter Zovo Pro license key" from the Command Palette and paste it. The key is checked on your computer, with no network call. With GitHub Sponsors, pick the "$19 one time" tier, then run "Zovo Pro: I already paid: unlock with GitHub Sponsors" and sign in with the same GitHub account. With PayPal, send USD 19 with "Zovo Pro" in the note and the key comes by email within a day.

A team of 5: USD 59 once, by card or by PayPal. Every rule and every Pro tool is on the Zovo Pro page.

Steps in Cursor, Windsurf or VSCodium

1. Open the Extensions view with Ctrl+Shift+X (Cmd+Shift+X on macOS).
2. Search for zovo.zip-archive-explorer and click Install. Cursor, Windsurf and VSCodium install from Open VSX, where it is published as zovo/zip-archive-explorer.
3. If your editor has no gallery, download the .vsix from the Open VSX page and run "Extensions: Install from VSIX...".
4. Then use it the same way as in VS Code.

What ZIP Viewer & Archive Explorer handles

• Compares ZIP, JAR, VSIX and TAR builds.
• Marks each file as added, removed or changed, using size and CRC-32, or the bytes when there is no CRC.
• Archives with up to 200,000 entries (setting archiveExplorer.maxEntries).
• Large archives are read from disk with range reads, so a large ZIP or TAR is not loaded whole.
• The archives themselves are never changed.

What it does not do

• The report lists which files changed. It does not show a line-by-line diff of their content.
• Compression methods other than Stored and Deflate (for example BZIP2, LZMA, Zstandard and Deflate64) and encrypted entries are listed but not opened.
• 7z, RAR, XZ and BZ2 files are not supported.

Other options

• zipcmp (libzip). Free command-line tool that compares the contents of two ZIP files. The better choice in a shell script or on a server.
• unzip -l and diff. Free on most systems: diff <(unzip -l a.zip) <(unzip -l b.zip). It compares the file lists with sizes and dates, not the content.
• diff -r on extracted folders. Free. Unpack both archives and run diff -r on the two folders. Use this when you need the line changes inside the files.
• Beyond Compare. Paid desktop app that compares folders and archives side by side, with content diffs.
• zipdiff. Free Java tool that compares two ZIP or JAR files. Often used for Java builds.

Install counts and Open VSX status were checked on 10 November 2026. Descriptions in quotes are the extensions' own.

Questions

More about ZIP Viewer & Archive Explorer

Read the ZIP Viewer & Archive Explorer page for every feature and setting, or the source code on GitHub.

Related guides

• Hex Viewer & Binary Viewer on the VS Code Marketplace (also on Open VSX). Opens any file as hex, edits bytes and compares two files, even files of many GB.
• Open a file inside a ZIP without extracting it
• Use a hex editor in VS Code
• Open a binary file in VS Code
• Open a PCAP file in VS Code