Notepad++ keeps copies of unsaved tabs and edited documents in %AppData%\Notepad++\backup on a standard Windows install, not in the Windows Temp folder. The Notepad++ User Manual names that folder as the default for session snapshots.
With session snapshot and periodic backup turned on, the copies refresh every 7 seconds by default, according to the Notepad++ Community FAQ.
A copy stays until you save or close the file. Then Notepad++ deletes it.
Where Notepad++ Stores Unsaved Files by Default
There’s no dedicated temp folder. Unsaved work lands in %AppData%\Notepad++\backup, which expands to C:\Users\YourName\AppData\Roaming\Notepad++\backup on a standard Windows install.
The Notepad++ User Manual (v8.9.9 text) gives that path as the default for session snapshot copies. Every “new 1” tab and every edited file you haven’t saved yet has one sitting there.
Windows hides AppData by default, so plenty of people never find the folder.
How to open the backup folder
The Run dialog is the fastest. Press Win+R, type %AppData%\Notepad++\backup and hit Enter.
File Explorer works too, once Hidden items is switched on in the View menu. From there you go through Users, your account, AppData, Roaming, Notepad++ and finally backup. Or open Settings > Preferences > Backup, where the active path is listed under the session snapshot options.
Preferences is the one I’d trust. If the path shown there differs from the default, the install isn’t a standard one.
Does Notepad++ use the Windows Temp folder?
No. Community answers keep sending people who search %TEMP% back to the same place, because periodic backups live in the backup folder under AppData.
One guide claims crash files, including .dump files, can show up in %TEMP%. The official manual documents no such output.
A forum user who found numbered copies of edited files in %TEMP% could only guess at the cause, and the reply pointed straight back to the backup folder.
Check the backup folder first and keep %TEMP% for a last-resort search.
Backup Folder Location in Portable, Local Config and Cloud Setups
The backup folder follows the configuration folder, so its path changes with the install type. A standard installer uses AppData, while a portable copy keeps everything beside notepad++.exe.
| Setup | Config location | Backup folder | How to confirm |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard installer | %AppData%\Notepad++\ | %AppData%\Notepad++\backup | Debug Info: Local Conf mode OFF, Cloud Config OFF |
| Portable ZIP or local config | Same folder as notepad++.exe | backup folder directly below notepad++.exe | Debug Info: Local Conf mode ON |
| PortableApps build | Data\Config | Data\Config\backup, with older files in App\Notepad++\backup | Path shown in Preferences > Backup |
| Cloud settings | Cloud folder for most config files | Not documented, read it in Preferences | Debug Info: Cloud Config shows the folder path |
Portable mode switches on when a zero-byte doLocalConf.xml file sits next to notepad++.exe, per the manual’s Configuration Files page. Delete that file and Notepad++ goes back to AppData on the next start.
The manual also gives the search order for configuration files. The -settingsDir command-line option wins, then the cloud folder, then local config, then %AppData%\Notepad++.
Cloud settings never move session.xml. It stays in AppData or in the portable folder, which matters when you’re hunting for the list of unsaved tabs.
How to check which setup you run
Open the ? menu and choose Debug Info.
Local Conf mode ON means portable or local config. If Cloud Config shows a folder path, cloud settings are active, and OFF means they aren’t. With both OFF you’re on a normal installation and the backups are in AppData.
PortableApps builds can split files across two folders
A user report on the PortableApps.com release thread for Notepad++ Portable 8.7.5 (December 2024) describes a move. Unsaved-file backups used to go to App\Notepad++\backup, and after some 2021 version, new ones went to Data\Config\backup.
On a PortableApps copy, open both folders before you decide a file is gone.
What the Files in the Backup Folder Are Called
Edited named files appear as filename.ext@yyyy-mm-dd_hhmmss, and unsaved tabs as new 1@yyyy-mm-dd_hhmmss with no extension. The Notepad++ User Manual and the Community FAQ give the same patterns.
| File | Name pattern | Created | Removed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edited saved file | report.txt@2026-11-04_185312 | First periodic save after your last manual save | On manual save, or when you close the file |
| Unsaved new tab | new 1@2026-11-04_185312 | First periodic save after the tab gets content | On save, or when you close the tab |
| Session list | session.xml (config folder, not the backup folder) | Rewritten on exit when Remember current session is on | Overwritten at each exit |
Why a blank new tab has no file
A fresh empty tab produces nothing on disk.
One keystroke changes that. According to a 2025 Community forum answer, even a single Enter makes Notepad++ create the new 1@ file and start saving into it.
What session.xml adds
It lists the open tabs and, for unsaved ones, points to the matching file in the backup folder (Notepad++ Community FAQ). If it breaks, the backup files stay put, but Notepad++ stops reopening them for you and you have to open them by hand.
Reading the timestamp correctly
The timestamp records the first periodic save after your last manual save. It doesn’t move while you keep typing. Only the file’s Date modified does.
So sort the folder by Date modified, not by name, when you look for the latest copy.
One guide says session snapshot files carry the raw filename with no timestamp. The manual and the Community FAQ both document the @timestamp form, and that’s the pattern to expect.
Which Settings Make Notepad++ Write Backup Files?
Whether any of these files exist depends on Settings > Preferences > Backup. With session snapshot off, the folder stays empty of new snapshots.
Session snapshot and remember session
Remember current session for next launch reopens the same list of tabs and writes session.xml on exit. Enable session snapshot and periodic backup is the box that actually saves copies of changed files into the backup folder.
The second one can’t be switched on without the first. Debug Info also carries a Periodic Backup line (it reads ON in a v8.6.5 bug report on GitHub), so the dialog that shows your install mode shows this setting too.
How often Notepad++ writes the files
The default interval is 7 seconds, according to the Notepad++ Community FAQ. A file is skipped in any interval where it didn’t change (Notepad++ User Manual).
With snapshots on, Notepad++ closes without a save prompt and reloads from the backup file at the next launch. That convenience is also why a wrong click on No at a close prompt costs so much.
Can the snapshot folder be moved?
Custom Backup Directory doesn’t move snapshot files. Every source agrees on that much, since the setting belongs to backup on save.
Beyond that, they disagree. The manual describes the periodic backup directory as a listed path with a default, Community answers say it follows the configuration location, and one guide calls it hardcoded.
For a different snapshot location, the documented route is a different configuration location, such as portable mode.
Backup on Save: Where Simple and Verbose Backups Go
Backup on save copies the previous version of a file each time you save it. It’s a separate system from session snapshots, and it writes next to the original file, not into the AppData backup folder.
Preferences offers None, Simple backup and Verbose backup. None is the default again since v8.3.1.
Simple backup
Simple backup appends .bak to the original name, so you get file.txt.bak. It goes into the original file’s folder unless Custom Backup Directory is set, and only one copy exists, replaced on every save.
The copy always trails the saved file by one version. Save “draft two” over “draft one” and the .bak holds draft one, then save again and it holds draft two.
Verbose backup
Verbose backup keeps history, because every save adds a new file.
Names follow filename.ext.yyyy-mm-dd_hhmmss.bak. Without a custom directory they collect in an nppBackup subfolder of the original file’s folder, for example C:\path\to\nppBackup\file.txt.2021-06-28_073650.bak (Notepad++ User Manual).
The manual describes no pruning, so a file saved every few minutes leaves a long trail of .bak copies for you to clean up.
Custom Backup Directory
Leave it blank and Simple writes beside the original, while Verbose writes to nppBackup beside the original. Set it to a full path and both modes write into that one folder. The entry field doesn’t work with a relative path.
One folder for everything creates name collisions. In Simple mode, a.txt from two different directories shares a single a.txt.bak, and the last save wins.
Verbose mode collides only when two same-named files are saved in the same second, which Save All can trigger.
Both modes usually land on the same drive as the original. The Community FAQ notes that this gives little protection against a failed disk, so point Custom Backup Directory at another drive or a synced folder if the file matters.
Why the default changed
Notepad++ v8.1.9.1 through v8.3 installed with Simple backup on save enabled, according to the Notepad++ Community FAQ. The v8.3.1 release candidate notes list a revert of that default.
Upgrading didn’t reset the choice. Community notes on that release candidate say a new default never overwrites a value already saved in config.xml.
.bak files you never asked for often trace back to an install from that window. Switch the mode to None in Preferences if you don’t want them.
How to Recover Unsaved Text From the Notepad++ Backup Folder
Copy the backup folder somewhere safe, open the copies in Notepad++, then save each one under a real name. The originals stay untouched while you work.
- Copy every file from %AppData%\Notepad++\backup (or your portable equivalent) into a new folder on the desktop.
- Open the copies in Notepad++ with File > Open, or right-click a file and choose Edit with Notepad++.
- Match each file to its source. The new 1@ files are unsaved tabs, and the filename.ext@ files are edited documents.
- Check the normal save location of any named file, because the newest version may sit there instead of in the backup folder.
- Save each recovered file in a normal folder with a meaningful name. For new-tab files, remove the @ and the timestamp from the name and add .txt.
When session.xml is corrupted
Since v8.6.5 (released 2024-03-30), Notepad++ stores session.xml.inCaseOfCorruption.bak beside session.xml and falls back to it when the main file is corrupt.
If the tabs still look wrong after a crash or an update, swap the files by hand. Exit Notepad++, rename session.xml to session.xml–keep, copy session.xml.inCaseOfCorruption.bak to session.xml, then start Notepad++ again.
Tabs still wrong? Exit again, delete session.xml and rename session.xml–keep back to session.xml.
File recovery software as a last resort
When the backup files themselves are gone, a recovery tool is the only route left. The Community FAQ names Recuva (unaffiliated with Notepad++) and suggests pointing it at the backup folder to look for older copies.
Now and then the backup file is the problem, because a crash interrupted its write. The result is a copy that doesn’t match your last edits.
Stop saving new files to that drive until the scan finishes. Recovery is never guaranteed.
When Notepad++ Backup Files Disappear or Never Appear
Quitting Notepad++ keeps the snapshot files. Closing one tab and answering No deletes that tab’s copy for good.
The close-tab trap
The manual says Notepad++ exits with unsaved changes without asking. The Community FAQ says a No at the save prompt makes Notepad++ delete the periodic backup on purpose.
Put those together and the dangerous moment is closing a single tab, not quitting the program. Treat that prompt as final.
Cases where files never appear
- In multi-instance mode only the first instance gets periodic backups, according to the manual.
- The last instance you close wins, and its session overwrites the sessions of the others (Community FAQ).
- The feature is volatile by design. The manual says it isn’t a long-term backup option and that unsaved changes should always be treated as volatile, so a Notepad++ or Windows crash can still lose data.
Sleep, shutdown and cleanup tools
A GitHub bug report on v8.4.6 logged session.xml shrinking from 374907 bytes to 193 bytes after Windows updates ran while the PC slept with Notepad++ open.
A forced shutdown or reboot gives applications little time to write their session. Community answers advise closing Notepad++ yourself first when you rely on unsaved tabs.
Cleanup software causes its own trouble. In spring 2024 a Dell SupportAssist v4 cleanup job deleted %APPDATA%\Notepad++\session.xml, according to Notepad++ Community posts.
Notepad++ shipped a workaround in v8.6.5, and a later post says SupportAssist v4.0.3 appears to have stopped the deletions.
Exclude %AppData%\Notepad++ in any cleaner you run. The report names session.xml, so the tab list is the part at risk.
Notepad++ Backup Folder FAQ
Can I delete the files in the Notepad++ backup folder?
Yes, once Notepad++ is closed and you’ve copied out anything you still need.
For unsaved tabs, the file in that folder is the only copy of the text, so deleting it deletes the text.
Why does the backup folder hold files from months ago?
Notepad++ removes a snapshot only when you save or close the file. If you switched snapshots off while changes were pending, the copy stays behind.
A crash or an unexpected reboot that left the session unrecorded has the same effect, as a Community answer explained for a file dated three months back.
Does updating Notepad++ erase the backup folder or reset backup settings?
No. The installer avoids overwriting configuration files you’ve customized, according to the Notepad++ User Manual.
The backup folder disappears only when the %AppData%\Notepad++ folder itself is deleted, which takes the old snapshots with it.
Which is better, the AutoSave plugin or periodic backup?
They do different jobs. AutoSave plugin v2.00 saves named files to their real location and needs configuring before it does anything.
Since v2.00 it no longer handles unnamed files, so periodic backup stays the only built-in protection for unsaved new tabs.
Backup Settings That Protect Unsaved Notepad++ Work
The Notepad++ backup folder protects text only until the next save or tab close, so lasting protection takes a named file plus backup on save. Session snapshot covers crashes, and Verbose backup on save covers bad overwrites.
The order that works for me:
- Save the file under a real name first
- Set backup on save to Verbose, with Custom Backup Directory pointing at another drive
- Leave session snapshot on as the safety net
Saving first moves the text out of the volatile layer, which a Windows crash or a cleanup tool can still empty.
The downside is disk space. Verbose adds one file per save, and the folder grows until you clear it.
This position was verified against the Notepad++ User Manual (v8.9.9 text) on 2026-11-04. A change to the backup defaults would change it.
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