Installing an Upgrade

Under Windows, each major version of Beyond Compare installs separately.  You can, for instance, install or uninstall version 5 without affecting a version 4 installation.  An exception is the operating system's shell context menu:  Generally, only one version of Beyond Compare will show in the shell's right-click menu.

For macOS and Linux, each new major version replaces the previous major version.

Transferring Settings

To transfer settings during a major upgrade, select Export Settings from the Tools menu in your current Beyond Compare installation to save settings to a file.  Then in the new version, select Import Settings from the Tools menu to import the settings.  Saved sessions and program options can be imported using these steps.  (Importing Beyond Compare 2 Rules into later versions is not supported.)

Upgrading Your License

Each major version upgrade requires a new license key.  A version 4 license key will not work with version 5, etc.  To upgrade your license, see our upgrades page.

Starting with version 3, Beyond Compare is available in Standard and Pro editions.  The trial-mode download includes features from both editions.  While in trial mode, you can select Help | About Beyond Compare and unmark Evaluate Pro Edition features to evaluate Standard features only.  Upon registering, the license key unlocks the appropriate features permanently.