GitHub Desktop supports hiding whitespace, expanding diffs, and creating repository aliases

Diff review gets more flexible in GitHub Desktop 2.8

GitHub Desktop 2.8 brings three workflow improvements aimed at diff review and repository management. The update adds expandable diffs, optional whitespace hiding, and local repository aliases.

Expandable diffs for broader context

Diff views previously showed only a few lines around each change. In 2.8, you can click to expand the diff above or below a change to see more of the surrounding file. A context menu on the diff also offers an option to expand the entire file at once.

Whitespace-only changes can be filtered out

Files with heavy whitespace churn can obscure the substantive edits. GitHub Desktop 2.8 adds a toggle to hide whitespace changes in both the changes and history views, letting you focus on meaningful code modifications. The feature was built largely by Steven Yeh (@say25), a longtime community contributor to the project.

Aliases distinguish duplicate local repositories

Developers who keep multiple clones of the same repository often have trouble telling them apart in the repository list. GitHub Desktop 2.8 lets you assign an alias to any local repository, making it easy to identify each copy at a glance.

The new features follow feedback from users and contributors in the open source repository. GitHub Desktop now has over one million monthly active users and more than 200 community contributors. GitHub Desktop can be downloaded from the official site.