Notepad++ Guides

Step-by-step guides for Notepad++, the free Windows text and code editor: display settings, cleaning up text, formatting JSON and XML, comparing files and plugins. The table below tells you where each common command lives in the menus.

By Bogdan Sandu Updated

Showing all 26 guides

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How to Find Special Characters in Notepad++
How to Find Special Characters in Notepad++ A file looks clean. Your script breaks anyway. Invisible characters, broken line endings, and hidden Unicode sequences cause more debugging time than…
 Notepad++ vs VS Code: Best Text Editor for Developers
Notepad++ vs VS Code: Best Text Editor for Developers Nobody picks between Notepad++ and VS Code because of price. Both are free, so whatever argument breaks out over it is really…
 How to Wrap Text in Notepad++ in Seconds
How to Wrap Text in Notepad++ in Seconds Scrolling sideways to read a single line of text is nobody’s idea of a good time. If you work with log files,…
 How to Format JSON in Notepad++: Pretty Print in Two Clicks
How to Format JSON in Notepad++: Pretty Print in Two Clicks Paste a raw API response into Notepad++ and it lands as one long line, brackets and commas jammed together with no spacing…

Where to find it in Notepad++

The menu path for the tasks people look up most, with a link to the full guide for each one.

TaskWhere to find itGuide
Wrap long linesView > Word wrapStep-by-step guide
Show spaces, tabs and line endingsView > Show Symbol > Show All CharactersStep-by-step guide
Make text bigger or smallerView > Zoom, or Ctrl + mouse wheelStep-by-step guide
Turn on dark modeSettings > Preferences > Dark ModeStep-by-step guide
Remove empty linesEdit > Line Operations > Remove Empty LinesStep-by-step guide
Remove duplicate linesEdit > Line OperationsStep-by-step guide
Trim spacesEdit > Blank OperationsStep-by-step guide
Find tabs, line breaks or hidden charactersSearch > Replace, with Search Mode set to ExtendedStep-by-step guide
Install a pluginPlugins > Plugins AdminStep-by-step guide
Format JSONPlugins > JSON Viewer > Format JSON (JSON Viewer plugin)Step-by-step guide
Format XMLPlugins > XML Tools > Pretty Print (XML Tools plugin)Step-by-step guide
Compare two filesPlugins > Compare > Compare, or Alt+D (Compare plugin)Step-by-step guide

Menu paths are for current Notepad++ 8.x releases. The JSON, XML and compare commands come from free plugins you install once through Plugins Admin.

Notepad++ compared with other editors

FeatureNotepad++VS CodeSublime TextWindows Notepad
PriceFreeFree$99 personal license, free to evaluateFree, included with Windows
LicenseOpen source (GPL)Open source code (MIT), Microsoft-licensed buildsProprietaryProprietary
Runs onWindowsWindows, macOS, LinuxWindows, macOS, LinuxWindows
Add-onsPlugins via Plugins AdminExtensions MarketplacePackages via Package ControlNone
Regex search and replaceYesYesYesNo
Compare two filesWith the Compare pluginBuilt inWith a packageNo
Best forFast editing and text clean-up on WindowsFull development work with debugging and GitFast editing across platformsQuick notes

Prices and licenses checked in October 2026. For a deeper look, read Notepad++ vs VS Code and Sublime vs Notepad++.

Getting started

7

What Notepad++ is, how to install plugins and use it on Linux, and where it keeps your unsaved files.

What Is Notepad++? It Still Beats IntelliJ and VimMillions of programmers still keep the same free text editor pinned to their taskbar. One developer built it alone in 2003, after…23 min read Updated How to Use Notepad++ for BeginnersMost text editors either do too little or ask too much of you. Notepad++ sits in the middle: free, fast, and capable…21 min read Updated How to Install Plugins in Notepad++Notepad++ is a capable text editor on its own, but its real strength comes from the plugin system. Knowing how to install…20 min read Updated The Notepad++ Shortcuts That Replace 6 PluginsNotepad++’s GitHub repo passed 29,000 stars a while back. That’s a lot of people choosing a plain text editor over a full…21 min read Updated How to Install Notepad++ on LinuxNotepad++ does not run on Linux natively. But that has never stopped people from using it. If you want to know how…18 min read Updated Notepad++ Android Options: Apps That Come CloseThere is no official Notepad++ for Android. The project’s own repository lists only Windows systems under its supported operating systems. Notepad++ is…13 min read Updated Where Does Notepad++ Save Temp Files?Your unsaved Notepad++ file exists somewhere on your hard drive right now, even if you never hit save. Knowing exactly where Notepad++…21 min read Updated

Display and appearance

5

Wrap long lines, change the text size, switch to dark mode and reveal hidden characters.

How to Wrap Text in Notepad++ in SecondsScrolling sideways to read a single line of text is nobody’s idea of a good time. If you work with log files,…19 min read Updated How to Increase Font Size in Notepad++Squinting at 8pt Courier New for hours is not a workflow. It is a headache. Notepad++ hides its font size settings in…21 min read Updated How to Turn On Dark Mode in Notepad++ (Built-In, No Plugin)Light attracts bugs. That’s the joke the team made once Notepad++ dark mode finally replaced the blinding white interface for good. The…13 min read Updated How to Highlight Text in Notepad++Most people use Notepad++ for years without knowing it has two completely separate highlighting systems. Knowing how to highlight in Notepad++ the…16 min read Updated Show Hidden Characters, Spaces, and Line Endings in Notepad++A file can look completely clean on screen right up until you turn on show hidden characters in Notepad++. Then every stray…15 min read Updated

Cleaning up text

4

Find special characters and remove extra spaces, empty lines and duplicates.

How to Find Special Characters in Notepad++A file looks clean. Your script breaks anyway. Invisible characters, broken line endings, and hidden Unicode sequences cause more debugging time than…19 min read Updated How to Remove Spaces in Notepad++ EfficientlyExtra whitespace breaks more things than most people expect. Trailing spaces cause failed imports, leading spaces misalign data columns, and invisible tab…16 min read Updated How to Remove Empty Lines in Notepad++Blank lines pile up fast — in log files, CSV exports, code, anywhere text gets copied and reformatted. Knowing how to remove…18 min read Updated How to Remove Duplicate Lines in Notepad++ (Sorted or Unsorted)Notepad++ crossed 28 million downloads on SourceForge alone between 2003 and 2010, back before the project moved to TuxFamily and then GitHub.…17 min read Updated

Formatting JSON and XML

2

Pretty-print and validate structured data with free plugins.

How to Format JSON in Notepad++: Pretty Print in Two ClicksPaste a raw API response into Notepad++ and it lands as one long line, brackets and commas jammed together with no spacing…17 min read Updated How to Format XML in Notepad++ (XML Tools Plugin – Free, 2026)Raw XML is unreadable. One long line of nested tags, no indentation, no structure you can actually follow. Learning how to format…20 min read Updated

Comparing files

2

See the differences between two files side by side.

How to Compare Two Files in Notepad++ (Compare Plugin, Step by Step)You open two files that are supposed to be identical, and they’re not anymore. Something moved, or got deleted, or one character…14 min read Updated How to Compare Files in Notepad++Two config files look nearly identical, but one just broke production and you can’t spot why. Knowing how to compare files in…12 min read Updated

Notepad++ vs other editors

5

How Notepad++ stacks up against VS Code, Sublime Text, Windows Notepad, TextPad and UltraEdit.

Notepad++ vs VS Code: Best Text Editor for DevelopersNobody picks between Notepad++ and VS Code because of price. Both are free, so whatever argument breaks out over it is really…16 min read Updated Notepad++ vs Notepad: Which Text Editor is Better?Every Windows PC ships with a text editor already installed. The Notepad++ vs Notepad question is really about why so many people…16 min read Updated Sublime vs Notepad++: What’s the difference between them?Notepad++ showed up in 23.9% of responses to the 2024 Stack Overflow Developer Survey. Sublime Text pulled 10.9%, less than half that…16 min read Updated Notepad++ vs TextPad: Comparing Popular Text EditorsWindows has had Notepad built in since the 1980s. That didn’t stop two separate teams from building something better and charging money…15 min read Updated Notepad++ vs UltraEdit: Which Text Editor to Choose?Most people don’t really pick between Notepad++ and UltraEdit. They bump into the choice. Notepad++ is usually already sitting on the machine,…16 min read Updated

More Notepad++ articles

1

The newest articles in this topic that aren’t listed in a section above yet.

Notepad++ Vulnerability History and How to Stay SafeNotepad++ has had a rough stretch since 2025, and it isn’t one bug. The installer had a binary planting flaw (CVE-2025-49144). Separately,…17 min read Updated

Frequently asked questions

Is Notepad++ free?

Yes. Notepad++ is free and open source, released under the GPL license, and it has no paid edition.

Does Notepad++ run on Mac or Linux?

Notepad++ is built for Windows only. On Linux it can run through a Windows compatibility layer, and the Linux install guide on this page walks through the setup. On macOS, most people use a cross-platform editor such as VS Code or Sublime Text instead.

How do I format JSON in Notepad++?

Install the JSON Viewer plugin from Plugins > Plugins Admin, then open your file and choose Plugins > JSON Viewer > Format JSON.

How do I compare two files in Notepad++?

Install the Compare plugin through Plugins Admin, open both files, and run Plugins > Compare > Compare, or press Alt+D.

Notepad++ or VS Code?

Notepad++ starts faster and is ideal for quick edits and text clean-up on Windows. VS Code is better for full development work, with debugging, Git integration, a larger extension library and support for macOS and Linux.

These guides are written by Bogdan Sandu and published by TMS Outsource, a custom software development company founded in 2014, with engineering offices in Belgrade and Bucharest. If you need a team to build or extend a web or mobile product, see our software development services or get in touch.