guide · total commander

Use Diffoniq as the Total Commander compare tool

Total Commander’s Compare by Content can hand the two selected items to an external program. Point it at Diffoniq and the same command gives you a side-by-side file comparison, a full folder comparison from two marked directories, or a look inside two marked ZIP files. One line in wincmd.ini, nothing else.

1. Add one line to wincmd.ini

Close Total Commander first, then open wincmd.ini — usually in %APPDATA%\GHISLER — and add this line to the [Configuration] section:

CompareTool=C:\Program Files\Diffoniq\Diffoniq.exe

That is the installer’s path; if you use the portable ZIP, put in the folder you unpacked it to. Save, then start Total Commander again.

2. Compare

Mark two files and choose Files → Compare by Content. Diffoniq opens with the two files side by side instead of Total Commander’s built-in comparison.

You mark	What Diffoniq shows
Two files	The two files side by side. Both are real files, so you can edit either side and save.
Two directories	A full folder comparison: every file that differs, is missing on one side, or was renamed, with the subfolders included.
Two ZIP files	An archive comparison: both archives opened like folders, with what changed inside — without extracting them.

Total Commander passes all three kinds of selection on to the external tool. Because Diffoniq takes folders and archives just as it takes files, one menu command covers all three.

If the setting seems to be ignored

Two traps, and both look exactly like “Total Commander ignores the line”:

Total Commander was running while you edited the file. It rewrites wincmd.ini from memory when it exits, so an edit made while it is open is lost. Close it, edit, start it again.
There is more than one CompareTool= line. Search the file; only one may remain.

Good to know

No read-only switch here. Total Commander hands over your real files, not extracted copies, so editing them is part of the job. Diffoniq keeps the original as a .BAK file when you save, because here nothing else keeps a copy of what you had before.
Esc closes the comparison and brings you back to Total Commander.
Compare with a server or NAS. If the other side is reachable as a Windows share, a UNC path works like any folder — for an SFTP server, see the WinSCP recipe in the help.

The full reference, including WinSCP and the direct network comparison, is in the help: File Managers and Transfer Tools.

Try it in your own Total Commander

Diffoniq runs on Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit. Every feature is available for 30 days before you decide.

Try Diffoniq free for 30 days See pricing

Total Commander is a product of Christian Ghisler, Ghisler Software GmbH. Diffoniq is not affiliated with Ghisler Software GmbH.