> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://tty7.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Diffs

> The diff overlay: side-by-side or unified, from the sidebar or the panel.

## Opening one

| From           | How                                          |
| -------------- | -------------------------------------------- |
| The sidebar    | Click a row's `+N −M` counts                 |
| Source Control | **Open Changes** on a file, or click the row |
| History        | Click a file inside a commit's detail view   |

A diff docks beside the terminal, in the same column an open file uses, so the
pane you were reading stays on screen. <kbd>Esc</kbd> closes it, and its header
right-clicks to a menu that fills the window with it if you prefer that —
[more about the column →](/window/side-panel#where-it-opens)

<Frame caption="Placeholder — screenshot: the diff overlay, side-by-side, several files">
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/tty7/xi044v9ExFWIUIoQ/images/placeholder.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=xi044v9ExFWIUIoQ&q=85&s=631190f8b3c3fc2a1846976059902298" alt="The tty7 diff overlay" width="1200" height="675" data-path="images/placeholder.svg" />
</Frame>

## Side-by-side or unified

**Toggle Unified / Side-by-Side Diff** in the command palette switches between
the two. The choice is global — one setting for every diff, the same call VS
Code's `diffEditor.renderSideBySide` makes — and persists as `diff_view` in
`config.json`.

## What it shows

* Every changed file, with its status and `+N −M`
* **Untracked files** as a preview of their contents, up to 4 MB — past that the
  card says the read failed rather than showing a silently cut-off file
* A commit's files, when the diff came from the history

Two limits keep a huge diff from becoming a huge wait:

| Limit                      | Value        | What happens                                                               |
| -------------------------- | ------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Files rendered             | 300          | *"… and N more changed files — run git diff in the terminal to see them."* |
| Lines before auto-collapse | 400 per file | Big files start collapsed; expand the ones you care about                  |

Both are stated in the overlay when they apply — nothing is dropped silently.

## Turning the sidebar shortcut off

If you would rather the sidebar's counts not be clickable, turn off **Settings →
Window & Tabs → Open diff preview from sidebar counts**
(`sidebar_diff_preview: false`). The branch and counts stay on the row; they
just stop opening the overlay.