Notepad++

Notepad is the default text editor available in Microsoft Windows Operating System. It helps you to create, modify text files. But it is a basic and primitive editor. Now, if you are looking for a free, fast, feature-rich editor then I would recommend Notepad++. You can even use it as a direct replacement for Windows Notepad.

I am sure, you will love it for ease of use, speed, and features like syntax highlighting, regex enabled to search and replace, and plugin support.

Notepad++ is a free, open-source source code editor. It is written in C++ and uses powerful editing components Scintilla, Windows 32 API call, and STL which makes it Windows-only software. There is a Snap package available for Linux OS. This snap works across Linux Distros like Ubuntu, Redhat, OpenSuse, CentOS, and Fedora.

Features,

Below are some of the prominent features of Notepad++,

Plugin Support – Plugins are add-ons that extend the base functionality of Notepad++. Some of the popular plugins are Compare, Combine, FTP, Plugin Manager. There more than 150+ plugins available. Check the complete list here.
Multi-Document (Tab interface) – It supports both horizontal as well as vertical tabs. Each tab runs separately with the individual close button. How many tabs could Notepad++ open? I have tried somewhere around 200. I doubt anyone would need these many tabs tables in the real world.
Syntax Highlighting and Syntax Folding – Syntax Highlighting and Syntax Folding is one of the most important features which I love. When you enable this, it highlights reserved words, comments in a different color. The code becomes easy to understand. Supporting languages include C, C++, SQL, Python, Perl, Shell and there are many. You can even define your own syntax highlighting.
Effective Search/Replace – Search and replace feature is also nice and works even for all opened files in different tabs. It supports PCRE (Perl Compatible Regular Expression) Search/Replace.
Auto-completion – Word completion, Function completion and Function parameters hint
Other feature includes – Zoom in and zoom out, Multi-Language environment supported, Macro recording and playback, Multi-View, WYSIWYG (Printing).

Refer to features article on the official page and Wikipedia for the complete list.

Download Notepad++

Notepad++ is available for Windows 32 bit and 64-bit architecture. Depending on your operating system download the correct version. If you are not sure about the configuration of the OS, it is safe to use the 32-bit installer. Version v7.7 is the latest at the time of writing/updating this article. See Enhancements & bug fixes in this article.

Downloads Notepad++ from the official download page.

You can also download zip, 7zip or minimalistic package, GPG Public key, SHA-256 digests of binary packages to verify Integrity & Authenticity. Older versions are available here.

Install Notepad++ on Windows 10

Double-click on the downloaded installer to start the installation. It is a wizard-driven installation.

Note: Installation steps are tested on Windows 8.1. These should work on Windows 7 and Windows 10 as well.

Let’s start installation…….

1. Select language

Setup welcome page. Click Next.

2. Accept license Agreement

Read and Accept the License Agreement. Click the I Agree button.

3. Choose Destination Folder

Next, choose the installation location. It defaults to the program file as shown below. You can browse and select a different location if you want. But, let it be the default and click Next.

4. Choose Components

Choose which component you want to install.

5. Create Shortcut

Select create a shortcut on the desktop and click Install.

6. Finish Installation

Setup completes within seconds. Click the Finish button.

7. Start Notepad++

Below is the default user interface GUI of Notepad++. It is plain, neat and clean.

Using Notepad++

As mentioned earlier, it is easy to use text-editor. The interface is clean, light, and well designed. Simply click on New to create a new file, use edit, search, or language menu for highlighting.

Below are some of the articles which you can refer to understand how to use Notepad++.

Important links

Below are some of the important links you should bookmark.

Notepad++ source code repository is available on GitHub Notepad++ page. You can pull the source code and modify it to add a new feature.

You can refer to the below links if you need any help or support.

Summary

I am using notepad++ for the last 8 years and found it really helpful. I love it for its speed, syntax highlighting and some good plugins available.

Which text editor are you using? Do comment below and let me know.

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Reference and further reading

Notepad++ Official Website