Check a revised contract before you sign it

Why the final copy needs checking

The copy you sign is the one that counts, not the draft you talked about. Between the last discussion and the signing copy, a document is often retyped, pieced together from two drafts, or rebuilt from an old template. Most differences that creep in are honest mistakes. Now and then one is not. Either way, the only reliable way to catch them is to compare the two versions, word by word.

Reading the final copy again is not enough. You tend to read what you expect to see, and one changed digit in a 12-page lease is very easy to miss. A comparison tool doesn't get tired and doesn't expect anything: it marks every word that differs, and you only have to judge the changes.

This works for any agreement you get as a PDF: a rent agreement from the owner or the broker, an offer letter that arrives with your joining papers, a vendor or service contract back from the other side's lawyer, a renewal of a lease, a loan or insurance document you were sent to sign.

First, get the right two files

• The agreed version is the last draft you accepted, ideally in writing: the attachment to the email where you said "this is fine". Find that email and download that exact file, not a copy you edited later.
• The final version is the copy you are asked to sign. If you are asked to sign online, look for a way to download the document first.
• Ask for PDFs saved from the document, not scans or photos of pages. A PDF saved from Word or another program has real text and can be compared word by word. A scan can only be compared by its look.
• If you agreed on a Word file, save it as a PDF first. Only PDFs can be compared here.
• If you will sign on paper, for example an agreement printed on stamp paper, ask for the PDF it is printed from and compare that. Then check that the printed copy has the same number of pages, and that each page starts and ends with the same words.
• Name the files clearly, like lease-agreed-12-Sep.pdf and lease-final-20-Sep.pdf, so you can't mix them up.

Password-protected PDFs are fine: the tool asks for the password and uses it only on your device.

The checklist: compare, then check each change

1. Open Compare PDF and put the agreed version under Original and the copy you are asked to sign under Changed version. Then "added" means new in the copy you would sign. If they went in the wrong way round, press the swap button.
2. Leave the options as they start. Ignore extra spaces and line breaks stays on, so a new layout doesn't fill the list. Ignore capitals stays off, because in contracts a capital can matter: "Tenant" is often a defined term, and "tenant" may not be.
3. Read the summary. If it says No differences in the text, the words match, and you can skip to step 7. Otherwise note how many changes there are.
4. Step through every change with the down arrow (or the N key), from the first to the last. For each one, decide: harmless (a typo fixed, a date written another way) or a question for the other side. Write the questions down with their page numbers.
5. Read every changed number twice. Amounts, dates, periods and percentages are where a small edit costs the most.
6. Give removed text as much attention as added text. A removed "not", or a removed line that protected you, is easy to overlook, because there is nothing new to read.
7. Run Compare the look. It marks visible differences the words can't show: a stamp, a seal, a signature, a logo, a letterhead, or a figure typed into a form box, when it shows on the page.
8. Check the notes in the summary. If some pages have no text, such as a scanned annexure, they were not compared word by word. Check them by eye, or with Compare the look.
9. Save the report. Save report gives you a text file listing every change, with its page in each file and the words before and after.
10. When a corrected copy comes back, compare it with the agreed version again: the whole document, not just the parts you asked about.

The edits that matter most

Not every change is equal. These are the kinds to slow down for:

Rent agreement or lease

The rent, the deposit and when it is returned, the maintenance charges, the yearly increase, the lock-in and notice periods, who pays for repairs and painting, the property address, and the list of fittings.

Offer letter or appointment letter

The total pay and its breakup, the fixed and variable parts, the joining date, the job title and place of work, the probation period, the notice period, any bond or training cost you would have to repay, and any limit on where you can work next.

Vendor or service contract

The price and whether taxes are included, the payment terms (30 days or 60), delivery dates, penalties for delay, the scope of work, the warranty, any limit on what either side has to pay if things go wrong, renewal, how much notice ends it, and the bank details for payments.

Reading what the tool shows on a contract

Say you compare a rent agreement and the summary says 4 changes: 1 added, 3 changed. Stepping through them, you see:

1. Changed on page 1: 15,000 became 16,500. That is the rent you agreed on the phone. Fine.
2. Changed on page 2: lock-in 11 became 12 months. You never discussed this. Ask.
3. Added on page 3: "The Licensee shall bear the cost of painting at the time of vacating." New. Ask.
4. Changed in a header or footer: Draft became Final. Fine.

That is the whole job: two questions to send, in a few minutes. A few patterns are worth knowing:

• A moved clause shows as removed in one place and added in another. Read both cards side by side. If the words are the same, it only moved. If not, the real change hides inside.
• A new clause renumbers the ones after it. Clause 7 becomes 8, 8 becomes 9, and each shows as a small change. They are harmless in themselves, but check that lines like "as set out in Clause 9" still point to the right clause.
• A rewritten sentence shows as one larger changed block. Read the old and the new wording in full: a small change in meaning can hide in a rewrite.
• Headers and footers are compared on their own, so a change like "Draft" to "Final" shows once, not on every page.

How each mark looks, and how the List view helps, is covered in how to read the result.

Why private comparison matters for contracts

A contract is full of things you would not hand to a stranger: names and home addresses, PAN and Aadhaar numbers, salary, bank details, prices and business terms. Most online PDF tools upload your files to their servers to work on them. For a contract, that means a copy sits, at least for a while, on a computer you know nothing about.

Many business contracts also have a confidentiality clause, and uploading the draft to an unknown website may not sit well with it. At work, check your company's rules first.

Compare PDF reads and compares both files inside your browser. Nothing is uploaded, there is no account, and the tool keeps nothing after you leave the page. You can prove it to yourself: once the page has loaded, switch off Wi-Fi and mobile data, and the comparison still works for most PDFs. More in why nothing is uploaded.

What this check can't tell you

• It is not legal advice. The tool shows what changed, not whether a change is fair, legal or safe for you. For large sums, property, long commitments or wording you don't understand, ask a lawyer or someone you trust before you sign.
• Formatting-only changes are not shown by the word comparison. A clause moved into tiny print, bold taken off a warning, or a heading made smaller all keep the same words. Compare the look shows visible changes like these.
• Pictures, stamps, seals and signatures have no words. Use Compare the look.
• Text in form boxes and comments is kept apart from the page text, so the word comparison doesn't see it. If the rent or a name is typed into a form box, check it with Compare the look or by eye.
• Scanned pages have no words to compare. The summary tells you how many pages have no text.
• It only compares the two files you give it. If the agreed version already had a problem, the comparison won't flag it. And a promise made on the phone or by email that is in neither version simply shows as no change. Check that what was promised is actually written down.
• It doesn't check signatures. It can't tell you whether a digital signature is valid. Adobe Acrobat Reader can.

The full list is in what the tool can't see.

After the check: what to do next

1. Reply in writing. List each change you want explained or undone, with its page and the words before and after. Copy them from the report. Something like: "Page 2: the lock-in period has changed from 11 to 12 months. We agreed 11. Please correct it." Short and specific gets a quick answer.
2. Compare the corrected copy again, against the agreed version, before you sign.
3. Sign only the copy you checked. On paper, many people also initial every page, so that pages can't quietly be swapped later.
4. Check the copy that comes back. When the other side returns the countersigned agreement, compare it with the one you signed. Use Compare the look as well, since signatures and stamps are pictures.
5. Keep the record together: the agreed version, the signed copy and the report, in one folder.

Need to send or upload the signed PDF? Our PDF compressor makes it smaller for email, and Resize PDF fits it under a portal's size limit. If the signed pages came back as photos, JPG to PDF turns them into one PDF, which you can then compare by its look.

Questions people ask next

Can I compare a Word draft with the final PDF?

Yes, once the Word draft is saved as a PDF. Then compare the two PDFs.

Can I compare a scanned signed copy with the digital draft?

Not word by word, because the scan has no words. A scan and a PDF saved from a document never line up exactly, so Compare the look marks most of each page. Ask for the digital copy, or read the scan beside the draft in two tabs of our PDF viewer, looking hardest at numbers, dates and names.

Does it work for agreements in Hindi or other languages?

Yes, word by word, with Hindi and other scripts compared with their vowel signs. PDFs typed with older Hindi fonts store their letters in a code of their own, so use the Pages view or Compare the look for those.

Is the report proof of what changed?

It is a plain text list you made on your own device. It is a useful record and handy in emails, but it is not a certified document.

Does the other side find out I compared?

No. Nothing is sent anywhere, so no one but you knows.