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P4 Visual Client (P4V) Documentation | 2026.1

# Diff Summary

The Diff Summary feature is a convenient way to see and work with diffs. Each time you save an edit, a diff of that segment of the file appears on the Diff Summary tab. For a given changelist, the summary can diff multiple segments within a file as well as segments for multiple files. If the changelist has too many diffs to display all the segments initially, as you scroll, additional segments appear.

## Preference setting

By default, Diff Summary is enabled. However, if you want to hide this feature, on the Edit menu, choose Preferences > Features and deselect the Diff Summary check box.

## Diff Summary tab

This image shows the Diff Summary tab on the Pending tab. When you make changes to a file on the Pending tab in your editor, the Diff Summary shows the change as well. The Diff Summary will show the differences in the items currently selected. This includes any shelved files you select. In addition to the Pending tab, the Diff Summary appears on the Submitted tab. |
To see the Diff Summary for a folder or file on the History tab, on the Depot or Workspace tab, click a folder that has files with diffs to show, or click a file. |
To use the default diff application instead of Diff Summary, click ... and select Show in default diff application |
On the Pending tab, To revert the entire file, on the File Header, click the ... button, and click Revert. To revert your edit of any segment of any file, click the arrow for that segment. |
By default, each file segment has three Lines of Context before and after each edit in each file. You can change the number of context lines. For Whitespace, the default is `Ignore Line Endings`, but you can select `Ignore Whitespace Changes` or `Ignore Whitespace`. If you want to work with the Diff Summary outside of the P4V window, use the button, which has the tooltip that says `Tear off this diff into a separate window`. A separate window appears in front of the P4V main window. You can set the size and position of that separate window. When you are done working with the separate window, close it and continue working with P4V. |
You can compare your local workspace files directly against their shelved revisions. This makes it easier to understand what has changed since you last shelved your work. The option to diff local files against shelved files appears only when you select a file in the pending changelist, or the changelist itself. When you select a pending changelist or a local file within a changelist, P4V displays a Differences between the have revision/shelved file and the local file option. By default, this option compares the pending changelist against the have revision (the version synced to your worksapce). Select the shelved file option from the drop-down to compare your local edits directly against the shelved version. If a shelved file exists but is not checked out locally, P4V displays the shelved file and compares its contents with your local copy. If the file is checked out locally but does not exist in the shelf, P4V displays the message “No corresponding shelved file.” If the checked out file is identical to the shelved version, P4V displays “There are no differences.” To view or act on these differences: Click the... button to open diff options. When you select Show in default diff application, P4V compares your local edits against the shelved version instead of the have revision. The button restores the file to the shelved revision and not the have revision so you can selectively revert changes as needed. |

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