Plain git diff colours whole lines red and green. Change one word and the entire line lights up, leaving you to hunt for the difference by eye. delta highlights only what changed and adds syntax colouring on top.

Install 

  brew install git-delta
sudo apt install git-delta
winget install dandavison.delta

The package is git-delta; the binary is delta. Take care not to confuse it with other packages named delta.

Configuration 

  git config --global core.pager delta
git config --global interactive.diffFilter 'delta --color-only'
git config --global delta.navigate true
git config --global delta.line-numbers true
git config --global merge.conflictStyle zdiff3

Or directly in ~/.gitconfig:

  [core]
    pager = delta

[interactive]
    diffFilter = delta --color-only

[delta]
    navigate = true
    line-numbers = true
    side-by-side = false
    syntax-theme = Monokai Extended

[merge]
    conflictStyle = zdiff3

Usage

Once configured, your existing commands route through it.

  git diff
git show HEAD
git log -p

With navigate = true, n and N jump file to file inside the pager — a real help on diffs that touch a lot of files.

Side-by-side 

  git diff --side-by-side       # or set delta.side-by-side = true as the default

Side-by-side reads well on a wide monitor; the default stacked view is better on a laptop. To toggle per situation, keep an alias around.

  alias gds='git -c delta.side-by-side=true diff'

Elsewhere 

  # compare two arbitrary files
delta old.json new.json

# as the lazygit pager (config.yml)
# git.paging.pager: delta --dark --paging=never

Themes 

  delta --list-syntax-themes          # available themes
delta --show-config                 # current settings

Pass --light or --dark to match your terminal.

Next

Catch problems before the diff is even written → pre-commit hooks

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Last updated 19 Aug 2026, 00:00 UTC. history