[c#] How to compare 2 files fast using .NET?

Typical approaches recommend reading the binary via FileStream and comparing it byte-by-byte.

• Would a checksum comparison such as CRC be faster?
• Are there any .NET libraries that can generate a checksum for a file?

If the files are not too big, you can use:

public static byte[] ComputeFileHash(string fileName)
{
    using (var stream = File.OpenRead(fileName))
        return System.Security.Cryptography.MD5.Create().ComputeHash(stream);
}

It will only be feasible to compare hashes if the hashes are useful to store.

(Edited the code to something much cleaner.)

The only thing that might make a checksum comparison slightly faster than a byte-by-byte comparison is the fact that you are reading one file at a time, somewhat reducing the seek time for the disk head. That slight gain may however very well be eaten up by the added time of calculating the hash.

Also, a checksum comparison of course only has any chance of being faster if the files are identical. If they are not, a byte-by-byte comparison would end at the first difference, making it a lot faster.

You should also consider that a hash code comparison only tells you that it's very likely that the files are identical. To be 100% certain you need to do a byte-by-byte comparison.

If the hash code for example is 32 bits, you are about 99.99999998% certain that the files are identical if the hash codes match. That is close to 100%, but if you truly need 100% certainty, that's not it.

Something (hopefully) reasonably efficient:

public class FileCompare
{
    public static bool FilesEqual(string fileName1, string fileName2)
    {
        return FilesEqual(new FileInfo(fileName1), new FileInfo(fileName2));
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// 
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="file1"></param>
    /// <param name="file2"></param>
    /// <param name="bufferSize">8kb seemed like a good default</param>
    /// <returns></returns>
    public static bool FilesEqual(FileInfo file1, FileInfo file2, int bufferSize = 8192)
    {
        if (!file1.Exists || !file2.Exists || file1.Length != file2.Length) return false;

        var buffer1 = new byte[bufferSize];
        var buffer2 = new byte[bufferSize];

        using (var stream1 = file1.Open(FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.Read))
        {
            using (var stream2 = file2.Open(FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.Read))
            {

                while (true)
                {
                    var bytesRead1 = stream1.Read(buffer1, 0, bufferSize);
                    var bytesRead2 = stream2.Read(buffer2, 0, bufferSize);

                    if (bytesRead1 != bytesRead2) return false;
                    if (bytesRead1 == 0) return true;
                    if (!ArraysEqual(buffer1, buffer2, bytesRead1)) return false;
                }
            }
        }
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// 
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="array1"></param>
    /// <param name="array2"></param>
    /// <param name="bytesToCompare"> 0 means compare entire arrays</param>
    /// <returns></returns>
    public static bool ArraysEqual(byte[] array1, byte[] array2, int bytesToCompare = 0)
    {
        if (array1.Length != array2.Length) return false;

        var length = (bytesToCompare == 0) ? array1.Length : bytesToCompare;
        var tailIdx = length - length % sizeof(Int64);

        //check in 8 byte chunks
        for (var i = 0; i < tailIdx; i += sizeof(Int64))
        {
            if (BitConverter.ToInt64(array1, i) != BitConverter.ToInt64(array2, i)) return false;
        }

        //check the remainder of the array, always shorter than 8 bytes
        for (var i = tailIdx; i < length; i++)
        {
            if (array1[i] != array2[i]) return false;
        }

        return true;
    }
}

Yet another answer, derived from @chsh. MD5 with usings and shortcuts for file same, file not exists and differing lengths:

/// <summary>
/// Performs an md5 on the content of both files and returns true if
/// they match
/// </summary>
/// <param name="file1">first file</param>
/// <param name="file2">second file</param>
/// <returns>true if the contents of the two files is the same, false otherwise</returns>
public static bool IsSameContent(string file1, string file2)
{
    if (file1 == file2)
        return true;

    FileInfo file1Info = new FileInfo(file1);
    FileInfo file2Info = new FileInfo(file2);

    if (!file1Info.Exists && !file2Info.Exists)
       return true;
    if (!file1Info.Exists && file2Info.Exists)
        return false;
    if (file1Info.Exists && !file2Info.Exists)
        return false;
    if (file1Info.Length != file2Info.Length)
        return false;

    using (FileStream file1Stream = file1Info.OpenRead())
    using (FileStream file2Stream = file2Info.OpenRead())
    { 
        byte[] firstHash = MD5.Create().ComputeHash(file1Stream);
        byte[] secondHash = MD5.Create().ComputeHash(file2Stream);
        for (int i = 0; i < firstHash.Length; i++)
        {
            if (i>=secondHash.Length||firstHash[i] != secondHash[i])
                return false;
        }
        return true;
    }
}

My experiments show that it definitely helps to call Stream.ReadByte() fewer times, but using BitConverter to package bytes does not make much difference against comparing bytes in a byte array.

So it is possible to replace that "Math.Ceiling and iterations" loop in the comment above with the simplest one:

            for (int i = 0; i < count1; i++)
            {
                if (buffer1[i] != buffer2[i])
                    return false;
            }

I guess it has to do with the fact that BitConverter.ToInt64 needs to do a bit of work (check arguments and then perform the bit shifting) before you compare and that ends up being the same amount of work as compare 8 bytes in two arrays.

I think there are applications where "hash" is faster than comparing byte by byte. If you need to compare a file with others or have a thumbnail of a photo that can change. It depends on where and how it is using.

private bool CompareFilesByte(string file1, string file2)
{
    using (var fs1 = new FileStream(file1, FileMode.Open))
    using (var fs2 = new FileStream(file2, FileMode.Open))
    {
        if (fs1.Length != fs2.Length) return false;
        int b1, b2;
        do
        {
            b1 = fs1.ReadByte();
            b2 = fs2.ReadByte();
            if (b1 != b2 || b1 < 0) return false;
        }
        while (b1 >= 0);
    }
    return true;
}

private string HashFile(string file)
{
    using (var fs = new FileStream(file, FileMode.Open))
    using (var reader = new BinaryReader(fs))
    {
        var hash = new SHA512CryptoServiceProvider();
        hash.ComputeHash(reader.ReadBytes((int)file.Length));
        return Convert.ToBase64String(hash.Hash);
    }
}

private bool CompareFilesWithHash(string file1, string file2)
{
    var str1 = HashFile(file1);
    var str2 = HashFile(file2);
    return str1 == str2;
}

Here, you can get what is the fastest.

var sw = new Stopwatch();
sw.Start();
var compare1 = CompareFilesWithHash(receiveLogPath, logPath);
sw.Stop();
Debug.WriteLine(string.Format("Compare using Hash {0}", sw.ElapsedTicks));
sw.Reset();
sw.Start();
var compare2 = CompareFilesByte(receiveLogPath, logPath);
sw.Stop();
Debug.WriteLine(string.Format("Compare byte-byte {0}", sw.ElapsedTicks));

Optionally, we can save the hash in a database.

Hope this can help

My answer is a derivative of @lars but fixes the bug in the call to Stream.Read. I also add some fast path checking that other answers had, and input validation. In short, this should be the answer:

using System;
using System.IO;

namespace ConsoleApp4
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            var fi1 = new FileInfo(args[0]);
            var fi2 = new FileInfo(args[1]);
            Console.WriteLine(FilesContentsAreEqual(fi1, fi2));
        }

        public static bool FilesContentsAreEqual(FileInfo fileInfo1, FileInfo fileInfo2)
        {
            if (fileInfo1 == null)
            {
                throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(fileInfo1));
            }

            if (fileInfo2 == null)
            {
                throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(fileInfo2));
            }

            if (string.Equals(fileInfo1.FullName, fileInfo2.FullName, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
            {
                return true;
            }

            if (fileInfo1.Length != fileInfo2.Length)
            {
                return false;
            }
            else
            {
                using (var file1 = fileInfo1.OpenRead())
                {
                    using (var file2 = fileInfo2.OpenRead())
                    {
                        return StreamsContentsAreEqual(file1, file2);
                    }
                }
            }
        }

        private static int ReadFullBuffer(Stream stream, byte[] buffer)
        {
            int bytesRead = 0;
            while (bytesRead < buffer.Length)
            {
                int read = stream.Read(buffer, bytesRead, buffer.Length - bytesRead);
                if (read == 0)
                {
                    // Reached end of stream.
                    return bytesRead;
                }

                bytesRead += read;
            }

            return bytesRead;
        }

        private static bool StreamsContentsAreEqual(Stream stream1, Stream stream2)
        {
            const int bufferSize = 1024 * sizeof(Int64);
            var buffer1 = new byte[bufferSize];
            var buffer2 = new byte[bufferSize];

            while (true)
            {
                int count1 = ReadFullBuffer(stream1, buffer1);
                int count2 = ReadFullBuffer(stream2, buffer2);

                if (count1 != count2)
                {
                    return false;
                }

                if (count1 == 0)
                {
                    return true;
                }

                int iterations = (int)Math.Ceiling((double)count1 / sizeof(Int64));
                for (int i = 0; i < iterations; i++)
                {
                    if (BitConverter.ToInt64(buffer1, i * sizeof(Int64)) != BitConverter.ToInt64(buffer2, i * sizeof(Int64)))
                    {
                        return false;
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Or if you want to be super-awesome, you can use the async variant:

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

namespace ConsoleApp4
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            var fi1 = new FileInfo(args[0]);
            var fi2 = new FileInfo(args[1]);
            Console.WriteLine(FilesContentsAreEqualAsync(fi1, fi2).GetAwaiter().GetResult());
        }

        public static async Task<bool> FilesContentsAreEqualAsync(FileInfo fileInfo1, FileInfo fileInfo2)
        {
            if (fileInfo1 == null)
            {
                throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(fileInfo1));
            }

            if (fileInfo2 == null)
            {
                throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(fileInfo2));
            }

            if (string.Equals(fileInfo1.FullName, fileInfo2.FullName, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
            {
                return true;
            }

            if (fileInfo1.Length != fileInfo2.Length)
            {
                return false;
            }
            else
            {
                using (var file1 = fileInfo1.OpenRead())
                {
                    using (var file2 = fileInfo2.OpenRead())
                    {
                        return await StreamsContentsAreEqualAsync(file1, file2).ConfigureAwait(false);
                    }
                }
            }
        }

        private static async Task<int> ReadFullBufferAsync(Stream stream, byte[] buffer)
        {
            int bytesRead = 0;
            while (bytesRead < buffer.Length)
            {
                int read = await stream.ReadAsync(buffer, bytesRead, buffer.Length - bytesRead).ConfigureAwait(false);
                if (read == 0)
                {
                    // Reached end of stream.
                    return bytesRead;
                }

                bytesRead += read;
            }

            return bytesRead;
        }

        private static async Task<bool> StreamsContentsAreEqualAsync(Stream stream1, Stream stream2)
        {
            const int bufferSize = 1024 * sizeof(Int64);
            var buffer1 = new byte[bufferSize];
            var buffer2 = new byte[bufferSize];

            while (true)
            {
                int count1 = await ReadFullBufferAsync(stream1, buffer1).ConfigureAwait(false);
                int count2 = await ReadFullBufferAsync(stream2, buffer2).ConfigureAwait(false);

                if (count1 != count2)
                {
                    return false;
                }

                if (count1 == 0)
                {
                    return true;
                }

                int iterations = (int)Math.Ceiling((double)count1 / sizeof(Int64));
                for (int i = 0; i < iterations; i++)
                {
                    if (BitConverter.ToInt64(buffer1, i * sizeof(Int64)) != BitConverter.ToInt64(buffer2, i * sizeof(Int64)))
                    {
                        return false;
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Another improvement on large files with identical length, might be to not read the files sequentially, but rather compare more or less random blocks.

You can use multiple threads, starting on different positions in the file and comparing either forward or backwards.

This way you can detect changes at the middle/end of the file, faster than you would get there using a sequential approach.

Edit: This method would not work for comparing binary files!

In .NET 4.0, the File class has the following two new methods:

public static IEnumerable<string> ReadLines(string path)
public static IEnumerable<string> ReadLines(string path, Encoding encoding)

Which means you could use:

bool same = File.ReadLines(path1).SequenceEqual(File.ReadLines(path2));

Here are some utility functions that allow you to determine if two files (or two streams) contain identical data.

I have provided a "fast" version that is multi-threaded as it compares byte arrays (each buffer filled from what's been read in each file) in different threads using Tasks.

As expected, it's much faster (around 3x faster) but it consumes more CPU (because it's multi threaded) and more memory (because it needs two byte array buffers per comparison thread).

    public static bool AreFilesIdenticalFast(string path1, string path2)
    {
        return AreFilesIdentical(path1, path2, AreStreamsIdenticalFast);
    }

    public static bool AreFilesIdentical(string path1, string path2)
    {
        return AreFilesIdentical(path1, path2, AreStreamsIdentical);
    }

    public static bool AreFilesIdentical(string path1, string path2, Func<Stream, Stream, bool> areStreamsIdentical)
    {
        if (path1 == null)
            throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(path1));

        if (path2 == null)
            throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(path2));

        if (areStreamsIdentical == null)
            throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(path2));

        if (!File.Exists(path1) || !File.Exists(path2))
            return false;

        using (var thisFile = new FileStream(path1, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.ReadWrite))
        {
            using (var valueFile = new FileStream(path2, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.ReadWrite))
            {
                if (valueFile.Length != thisFile.Length)
                    return false;

                if (!areStreamsIdentical(thisFile, valueFile))
                    return false;
            }
        }
        return true;
    }

    public static bool AreStreamsIdenticalFast(Stream stream1, Stream stream2)
    {
        if (stream1 == null)
            throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(stream1));

        if (stream2 == null)
            throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(stream2));

        const int bufsize = 80000; // 80000 is below LOH (85000)

        var tasks = new List<Task<bool>>();
        do
        {
            // consumes more memory (two buffers for each tasks)
            var buffer1 = new byte[bufsize];
            var buffer2 = new byte[bufsize];

            int read1 = stream1.Read(buffer1, 0, buffer1.Length);
            if (read1 == 0)
            {
                int read3 = stream2.Read(buffer2, 0, 1);
                if (read3 != 0) // not eof
                    return false;

                break;
            }

            // both stream read could return different counts
            int read2 = 0;
            do
            {
                int read3 = stream2.Read(buffer2, read2, read1 - read2);
                if (read3 == 0)
                    return false;

                read2 += read3;
            }
            while (read2 < read1);

            // consumes more cpu
            var task = Task.Run(() =>
            {
                return IsSame(buffer1, buffer2);
            });
            tasks.Add(task);
        }
        while (true);

        Task.WaitAll(tasks.ToArray());
        return !tasks.Any(t => !t.Result);
    }

    public static bool AreStreamsIdentical(Stream stream1, Stream stream2)
    {
        if (stream1 == null)
            throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(stream1));

        if (stream2 == null)
            throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(stream2));

        const int bufsize = 80000; // 80000 is below LOH (85000)
        var buffer1 = new byte[bufsize];
        var buffer2 = new byte[bufsize];

        var tasks = new List<Task<bool>>();
        do
        {
            int read1 = stream1.Read(buffer1, 0, buffer1.Length);
            if (read1 == 0)
                return stream2.Read(buffer2, 0, 1) == 0; // check not eof

            // both stream read could return different counts
            int read2 = 0;
            do
            {
                int read3 = stream2.Read(buffer2, read2, read1 - read2);
                if (read3 == 0)
                    return false;

                read2 += read3;
            }
            while (read2 < read1);

            if (!IsSame(buffer1, buffer2))
                return false;
        }
        while (true);
    }

    public static bool IsSame(byte[] bytes1, byte[] bytes2)
    {
        if (bytes1 == null)
            throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(bytes1));

        if (bytes2 == null)
            throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(bytes2));

        if (bytes1.Length != bytes2.Length)
            return false;

        for (int i = 0; i < bytes1.Length; i++)
        {
            if (bytes1[i] != bytes2[i])
                return false;
        }
        return true;
    }

Honestly, I think you need to prune your search tree down as much as possible.

Things to check before going byte-by-byte:

1. Are sizes the same?
2. Is the last byte in file A different than file B

Also, reading large blocks at a time will be more efficient since drives read sequential bytes more quickly. Going byte-by-byte causes not only far more system calls, but it causes the read head of a traditional hard drive to seek back and forth more often if both files are on the same drive.

Read chunk A and chunk B into a byte buffer, and compare them (do NOT use Array.Equals, see comments). Tune the size of the blocks until you hit what you feel is a good trade off between memory and performance. You could also multi-thread the comparison, but don't multi-thread the disk reads.

If you only need to compare two files, I guess the fastest way would be (in C, I don't know if it's applicable to .NET)

1. open both files f1, f2
2. get the respective file length l1, l2
3. if l1 != l2 the files are different; stop
4. mmap() both files
5. use memcmp() on the mmap()ed files

OTOH, if you need to find if there are duplicate files in a set of N files, then the fastest way is undoubtedly using a hash to avoid N-way bit-by-bit comparisons.

The slowest possible method is to compare two files byte by byte. The fastest I've been able to come up with is a similar comparison, but instead of one byte at a time, you would use an array of bytes sized to Int64, and then compare the resulting numbers.

Here's what I came up with:

    const int BYTES_TO_READ = sizeof(Int64);

    static bool FilesAreEqual(FileInfo first, FileInfo second)
    {
        if (first.Length != second.Length)
            return false;

        if (string.Equals(first.FullName, second.FullName, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
            return true;

        int iterations = (int)Math.Ceiling((double)first.Length / BYTES_TO_READ);

        using (FileStream fs1 = first.OpenRead())
        using (FileStream fs2 = second.OpenRead())
        {
            byte[] one = new byte[BYTES_TO_READ];
            byte[] two = new byte[BYTES_TO_READ];

            for (int i = 0; i < iterations; i++)
            {
                 fs1.Read(one, 0, BYTES_TO_READ);
                 fs2.Read(two, 0, BYTES_TO_READ);

                if (BitConverter.ToInt64(one,0) != BitConverter.ToInt64(two,0))
                    return false;
            }
        }

        return true;
    }

In my testing, I was able to see this outperform a straightforward ReadByte() scenario by almost 3:1. Averaged over 1000 runs, I got this method at 1063ms, and the method below (straightforward byte by byte comparison) at 3031ms. Hashing always came back sub-second at around an average of 865ms. This testing was with an ~100MB video file.

Here's the ReadByte and hashing methods I used, for comparison purposes:

    static bool FilesAreEqual_OneByte(FileInfo first, FileInfo second)
    {
        if (first.Length != second.Length)
            return false;

        if (string.Equals(first.FullName, second.FullName, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
            return true;

        using (FileStream fs1 = first.OpenRead())
        using (FileStream fs2 = second.OpenRead())
        {
            for (int i = 0; i < first.Length; i++)
            {
                if (fs1.ReadByte() != fs2.ReadByte())
                    return false;
            }
        }

        return true;
    }

    static bool FilesAreEqual_Hash(FileInfo first, FileInfo second)
    {
        byte[] firstHash = MD5.Create().ComputeHash(first.OpenRead());
        byte[] secondHash = MD5.Create().ComputeHash(second.OpenRead());

        for (int i=0; i<firstHash.Length; i++)
        {
            if (firstHash[i] != secondHash[i])
                return false;
        }
        return true;
    }

In addition to Reed Copsey's answer:

• The worst case is where the two files are identical. In this case it's best to compare the files byte-by-byte.

• If if the two files are not identical, you can speed things up a bit by detecting sooner that they're not identical.

For example, if the two files are of different length then you know they cannot be identical, and you don't even have to compare their actual content.

It's getting even faster if you don't read in small 8 byte chunks but put a loop around, reading a larger chunk. I reduced the average comparison time to 1/4.

    public static bool FilesContentsAreEqual(FileInfo fileInfo1, FileInfo fileInfo2)
    {
        bool result;

        if (fileInfo1.Length != fileInfo2.Length)
        {
            result = false;
        }
        else
        {
            using (var file1 = fileInfo1.OpenRead())
            {
                using (var file2 = fileInfo2.OpenRead())
                {
                    result = StreamsContentsAreEqual(file1, file2);
                }
            }
        }

        return result;
    }

    private static bool StreamsContentsAreEqual(Stream stream1, Stream stream2)
    {
        const int bufferSize = 1024 * sizeof(Int64);
        var buffer1 = new byte[bufferSize];
        var buffer2 = new byte[bufferSize];

        while (true)
        {
            int count1 = stream1.Read(buffer1, 0, bufferSize);
            int count2 = stream2.Read(buffer2, 0, bufferSize);

            if (count1 != count2)
            {
                return false;
            }

            if (count1 == 0)
            {
                return true;
            }

            int iterations = (int)Math.Ceiling((double)count1 / sizeof(Int64));
            for (int i = 0; i < iterations; i++)
            {
                if (BitConverter.ToInt64(buffer1, i * sizeof(Int64)) != BitConverter.ToInt64(buffer2, i * sizeof(Int64)))
                {
                    return false;
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

This I have found works well comparing first the length without reading data and then comparing the read byte sequence

private static bool IsFileIdentical(string a, string b)
{            
   if (new FileInfo(a).Length != new FileInfo(b).Length) return false;
   return (File.ReadAllBytes(a).SequenceEqual(File.ReadAllBytes(b)));
}

If you d_o_ decide you truly need a full byte-by-byte comparison (see other answers for discussion of hashing), then the easiest solution is:

public static bool AreFileContentsEqual(String path1, String path2) =>
              File.ReadAllBytes(path1).SequenceEqual(File.ReadAllBytes(path2));

public static bool AreFileContentsEqual(FileInfo fi1, FileInfo fi2) =>
    fi1.Length == fi2.Length &&
    (fi1.Length == 0 || File.ReadAllBytes(fi1.FullName).SequenceEqual(
                        File.ReadAllBytes(fi2.FullName)));

Unlike some other posted answers, this is conclusively correct for any kind of file: binary, text, media, executable, etc., but as a full binary comparison, files that that differ only in "unimportant" ways (such as BOM, line-ending, character encoding, media metadata, whitespace, padding, source-code comments, etc.) will always be considered not-equal.

This code loads both files into memory entirely, so it should not be used for comparing truly gigantic files. Beyond that important caveat, full loading isn't really a penalty given the design of the .NET GC (because it's fundamentally optimized to keep small, short-lived allocations extremely cheap), and in fact could even be optimal when file sizes are expected to be less than 85K, because using a minimum of user code (as shown here) implies maximally delegating file performance issues to the CLR, BCL, and JIT to benefit from (e.g.) the latest design technology, system code, and adaptive runtime optimizations.

Furthermore, for such workaday scenarios, concerns about the performance of byte-by-byte comparison via LINQ enumerators (as shown here) are moot, since hitting the disk a_t_ a_l_l_ for file I/O will dwarf, by several orders of magnitude, the benefits of the various memory-comparing alternatives. For example, even though SequenceEqual does in fact give us the "optimization" of abandoning on first mismatch, this hardly matters after having already fetched the files' contents, each fully necessary to confirm the match.