Download Notepad++ 8, a free text and code editor that supports multiple languages, tabbed browsing, find and replace, syntax highlighting, and smooth performance for everyday tasks.

Notepad++ Overview

Notepad++ is a text and code editor chosen by many programmers as their daily tool because it is lightweight, opens quickly, and can do many things that the built-in Notepad cannot. The program is open-source and free to use, developed from Scintilla, a text editor specifically for developers, making it truly capable of coding rather than just opening plain text files.

What makes Notepad++ stand out right from opening is its support for numerous programming languages, including C, C++, Java, Python, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, PHP, SQL, and over 80 others. When opening a code file, the program automatically colors commands, structures, and variables, making long blocks of code much easier to read and helping you spot function scopes and errors faster than reading single-colored text. Additionally, it features auto-completion, auto-indentation, code folding, and multi-file tab support, allowing you to switch between files without opening multiple full-screen windows.

Another part that users love is the highly detailed find and replace tool, which supports plain text or regular expressions, as well as searching across multiple files in the same folder, making it ideal for updating variable names or recurring text scattered across various files simultaneously.

Notepad++ can also be extended with plugins, such as a file comparison plugin to view line-by-line differences, a code formatter plugin, and tools to manage JSON or XML files. The program supports large files, opening tens of thousands of lines without significant lag, and allows split-screen viewing to compare two sections of code without scrolling up and down.

Therefore, Notepad++ is ideal for those who primarily work with plain text and code, whether web developers, programmers, data analysts, or people who frequently edit configuration files and scripts. It is not a word processor like Word, but if your task is opening files, reading code, editing, and saving quickly, Notepad++ is a direct tool for the job. If you want to compare it with other options in the same category, EditPlus it is equally worth trying.

Key Features

Open multiple files simultaneously through the tabbed interface.
Highlight grammar and code structure in color according to the chosen language.
Find and replace text in the current file, multiple files, or an entire folder.
Supports Regular Expression search and multiple matching options.
Automatically complete words and function names to help write code faster.
Fold and expand code blocks to handle files with long structures.
Record and run macros for repetitive editing tasks.
You can select and edit column-based text in the document.
Create a User Defined Language to define the syntax of specific files.
Supports plugins for adding tools and connecting workflows.
Supports Unicode and works with the Thai text.
There is a portable version that can be launched from an external folder without installation.

What's new

Version 8.9.9 – 2026-11-06

6 security vulnerabilities. Fixed plugin command execution vector via WM_COPYDATA, memory disclosure, temporary file saving risks under UAC, out-of-bounds array access via NPPM_MENUCOMMAND, and buffer overflow during SAML decoding in the MIME Tools plugin.
Updated Scintilla to 5.6.9 and Lexilla to 5.5.5. Along with updating boost to 1.92.0
Faster find in files. Improved Find in Files speed when searching across numerous files in the same folder.
Dialog font customization is now available. Customize dialog fonts and font sizes as needed.
Incremental search bar can now be moved to the top. Option to place the Incremental Search bar at the top of the window, and the program remembers the setting across sessions.
New Clipboard History panel design. Improved the appearance of the clipboard history panel for a cleaner look, while fixing out-of-bounds reading issues and incorrect UTF-16 character truncation.
Option to set a user-defined language as the default. Option to select a User Defined Language as the default language for new documents, and added support for the Structured Text language.
Fixed an issue with opening files via the right-click menu. Fixed an issue where files could not be opened with "Edit with Notepad++" when the program path used the 8.3 format.
Fixed several minor bugs. Including Document Switcher losing its state, focus loss when closing with Ctrl+Esc, spaces not scaling with screen zoom, and list rendering issues in dialogs.
Fixed several memory leaks. Updated keyword lists for Python and R.