Notepad++ is a free, open-source text and source code editor for Windows. It is widely used by developers, programmers, and other professionals who need a powerful yet lightweight tool for editing plain text and source code.

Notepad++ is written in C++ and uses pure Win32 API and STL, based on the powerful editing component Scintilla, which ensures a higher execution speed and smaller program size. By optimizing as many routines as possible without losing user friendliness, Notepad++ is trying to reduce the world's carbon dioxide emissions. When using less CPU power, the PC can throttle down and reduce power consumption, resulting in a greener environment.

What is the difference between Notepad and Notepad++?

Notepad++ is an advanced version of Notepad, aimed at programmers, web designers, and IT professionals. It has basic IDE features but retains the familiarity of Notepad which is Windows' built-in text editor and very simple word processor.

What programming languages does Notepad++ support?

Notepad++ supports programming languages such as C, C++, Java, JavaScript, XML, Python, CSS, HTML, Ruby, Pascal, Visual Basic, and more.

Is Notepad++ better than Sublime Text?

Both applications are powerful text editors, but the main difference is that Notepad++ is open source and free. Sublime Text offers a trial version but it costs $99 per license. Another important difference is that Notepad++ is only available on Windows, while Sublime Text is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. It is worth mentioning that Sublime Text offers an evaluation version that you can use for free, but it will constantly ask you to purchase the license.

Features

Notepad++ is a free (as in "free speech" and also as in "free beer") source code editor and Notepad replacement that supports several languages. Running in the MS Windows environment, its use is governed by GPL License.

This project is mature. However, there may be still some bugs and missing features that are being worked on. If you have any questions or suggestions about this project, please post them in the forums. Also, if you wish to make a feature request, you can post it there as well. But there's no guarantee that I'll implement your request.

You're encouraged to translate Notepad++ into your native tongue if there's not already a translation present in the Binary Translations page. And if you want, help translating Notepad++ official site into your native tongue would be greatly appreciated.

  • Syntax Highlighting and Syntax Folding
  • WYSIWYG
  • User Defined Syntax Highlighting
  • Auto-completion
  • Multi-Document
  • Multi-View
  • Regular Expression Search/Replace supported
  • Full Drag 'N' Drop supported
  • Dynamic position of Views
  • File Status Auto-detection
  • Zoom in and zoom out
  • Multi-Language environment supported
  • Bookmark
  • Brace and Indent guideline Highlighting
  • Macro recording and playback

What's New

  • Make installation and updates easy & quiet by adding "Yes (Silent)" button. (Fix #8514)
  • Add new options '/closeRunningNpp' & '/runNppAfterSilentInstall' in the installer. (Implement #15230, implement #15280)
  • Fix crash of "Next Search Result" command on the empty search result. (Fix #15247)
  • Fix the regression where the Find dialog size is not remembered across sessions. (Fix #15294)
  • Fix the regression of content lost by using Encoding "Convert to…" commands. (Fix #15324, #15271, #3054, possibly #9426)
  • Fix the regression of exception/crash on Windows Server Core 2022. (Fix #15313)
  • Prevent DirectWrite from being enabled under Windows Sever. (commit)
  • Enhance the quality of Fluent toolbar icon sets for different DPI settings. (Fix #15253)
  • Improve the look & feel of tabbar close button in dark mode. (Fix #15321, implement #15326)
  • Improve the dark mode tab bar icon in the search results panel. (Implement #15286)
  • Add ability to pre-populate the predefined color sets for custom tones. (Fix #15055)
  • Add "Show All Character" popup menu on toolbar button. (Fix #14832)
  • Fix the rectangular selection copy-paste bug. (Fix #15139, #15151)
  • Allow opening shortcut files (*.lnk) directly if the file extension is changed. (Fix #9643, #11089, #10139)
  • Fix the lost panels issue. (Fix #13084)
  • Add Backspace unindent option. (Fix #15180)
  • Fix CSS more indentation bug. (Fix #14962)
  • Include F13-F24 keys in Shortcut Mapper. (Fix #11975)
  • Fix the problem where the last empty clean untitled tab cannot be closed after renaming. (Fix #15306)
  • Add plugin a command (NPPM_SETUNTITLEDNAME) to rename untitled tab. (Fix #8916)
  • Display a message box with information about disabled backward regex searching. (Fix #15239)
  • Fix the display glitch for unsaved tabs containing tab characters. (Fix #15202)
  • Fix status bar and tab bar flicker during the GUI updated (fixed only for dark mode). (Fix #15260)
  • Fix the issue with "Begin/End Select" command after deletion. (Fix #15221)
  • Resolve the integer overflow problem in the Column Editor. (Fix #15167)
  • Adjust the position of hits text in the File Progress dialog. (Fix #13426, #15244)
  • Fix the deployment of other software blocked due to NppShell. (Fix #62)