Some text needs a place to sit for a minute: a quick note, a list to clean up, a paste to strip of its formatting. Notepad++ opens before I have finished reaching for it, and it keeps what I type even if it closes unexpectedly, saved or not.
Install
Install it with Scoop (scoop install notepadplusplus), or from notepad-plus-plus.org. Scoop’s copy includes install-context.reg in the app’s folder. Running reg import on it adds “Edit with Notepad++” to the right-click menu.
My settings
- Backup on.
Settings > Preferences > Backup, with session snapshot and periodic backup turned on. Every open tab survives a crash or a restart, saved or not. - No AutoSave. I leave the AutoSave plugin out. The backup already protects the work, so saving a file stays a deliberate act.
Plugins
| Plugin | What it does |
|---|---|
| NppMenuSearch | finds any menu command or setting by typing |
| BetterMultiSelection | edits many lines at once, with normal cursor keys |
| ComparePlus | compares two files; the maintained successor to Compare |
| Navigate To | opens any open file by name |
| Markdown Viewer++ | previews and exports Markdown |
Install them from Plugins > Plugins Admin.
Tips
- Clean up a paste. Paste the text, edit it, copy it out. Search and replace with
Regular expressionon handles most jobs. A line break on Windows is\r\n, so search for that, not\n. - Open it from anywhere with one key, set in HotkeyP.
Further reading
- The Notepad++ user manual, including every shortcut.