Background: A non-invasive and secure alternative to existing unreliable diagnostic techniques is magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) and diffusion weighted imaging(DWI), which may be used to examine biliary strictures and image the biliary tree. Objectives:  This study's primary goal was to assess how well DWI to MRCP in detection of level and differentiation of causes of extra-hepatic biliary stricture (benign or malignant). Patients and methods:  South Valley University's Qena University Hospital served as the site of this cross-sectional investigation. This research comprised 30 individuals who were healthy enough for an MRI test between January 2021 and January 2022 and who had obstructive jaundice that was either known to exist or was clinically believed to exist. Results: In the studied patients, MRCP correctly diagnosed 16 cases out of 19 cases as benign stricture according to histopathology with three false negative malignant strictures. DWI correctly diagnosed 18 cases out of 19 cases as benign stricture according to histopathology with one false negative malignant stricture. Sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV and accuracy of MRCP in comparison with histopathology was 100%, 84.21%, 78.57%, 100% and 90% respectively. Sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV and accuracy of DWI in comparison with histopathology was100% ,94.74% , 91.67% , 100% and 96.6% respectively. Conclusion: DWI greatly enhances the diagnosis accuracy for identifying benign and malignant biliary strictures and is superior to MRCP in the identification and characterization of biliary obstructing disorders.