from difflib import ndiff def merge_file1_file2(file1_path, file2_path, output_path): with open(file1_path, 'r') as f1, open(file2_path, 'r') as f2: file1_lines = f1.readlines() file2_lines = f2.readlines() diff = list(ndiff(file1_lines, file2_lines)) merged = [] for line in diff: if line.startswith(" "): # common line merged.append(line[2:]) elif line.startswith("- "): # only in file1 merged.append(line[2:]) # keep it elif line.startswith("+ "): # only in file2 merged.append(line[2:]) # add it # we ignore changed lines, since - and + will appear, but we keep file1 version with open(output_path, 'w') as out: out.writelines(merged) # Example usage merge_file1_file2("file1.txt", "file2.txt", "merged.txt")