Ignore white space in code review
Ignore white space in your diff view without losing the ability to comment.
When reviewing code, a diff with a number of trivial white space changes can create enough noise that it’s difficult to focus on code changes. Now it’s easier to understand code updates from white space changes with an improved diff view. Change your view to automatically reduce white space using the new “Diff settings” button, and start your review.
Want to comment on white space, too? No problem. Comments you add to one view always carry over to the other.

Clicking the “Diff settings” button will display options for viewing your diff.
A diff view with reduced white space has been available since 2011 by adding ?w=1 to the URL. The new button builds on this view to better support your existing workflows.
Learn more about comparing branches in pull requests
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