How do I put all visible windows into diff mode and balance their sizes in Vim?

Explanation

When you already have multiple related buffers open, you can enter diff mode across all visible windows in one shot and then normalize layout width/height immediately. This avoids the slow loop of switching windows and running :diffthis repeatedly. Pairing it with wincmd = makes the comparison easier to read because each pane gets equal space.

How it works

:windo diffthis | wincmd =<CR>

• :windo diffthis executes :diffthis in every window in the current tab
• | chains another Ex command on the same command line
• wincmd = equalizes split sizes after diff mode is active
• <CR> executes the full command chain

Example

Suppose you have three windows open: current branch file, generated output, and a manually edited variant. Running the command immediately highlights differences in all panes and rebalances window sizes so each diff is readable.

Window 1: config-old.yml
Window 2: config-new.yml
Window 3: config-expected.yml

After execution, all three participate in diff mode with synchronized fold and hunk navigation behavior.

Tips

• Use :diffoff! later to clear diff mode everywhere
• Run this per tab page so unrelated windows in other tabs are untouched