Notepad++

Last updated: September 28, 2026

Version 8.9.8.1 Size 6.6 MB License Open Source OS Windows

Direct download from the publisher’s own server — no repacks, no bundled installers. By Don Ho. Report a broken link

Notepad++ — Notepad++ is the beloved free source code editor: syntax highlighting for 80+ languages, tabs, macros and plugins.

Notepad++ is the free source code and text editor that replaces Windows Notepad with something vastly more capable, while staying tiny and instant to start.

Key features:

Syntax highlighting and folding for 80+ languages
Multi-tab, multi-view, split-screen editing
Powerful search and replace with regex, across files
Column mode, macros and auto-completion
Plugin ecosystem (compare, JSON tools, FTP and more)
Tiny, fast, open source (GPL)

Frequently asked questions

Is Notepad++ free?

Yes, free and open source under the GPL. No ads, no paid tier, funded by donations.

Can it edit huge files?

It comfortably handles files in the tens of megabytes. For multi-gigabyte logs, specialized viewers do better.

Does it replace Windows Notepad?

It can. It opens instantly and handles every encoding, and an official setting can register it as the default editor.

Similar software

Portable EditPad Pro 6.3.2 EditPad Pro - convenient, powerful and versatile text editor to edit all kinds of text ... Shareware6.52 MB Visual Studio Code Visual Studio Code is the most popular free code editor: IntelliSense, debugging, Git a... Freeware Hex Workshop 4.23 Hex Workshop - Edit, insert, delete, cut, copy, and paste hex code Shareware3.64 MB Resource Hacker 3.4.0.79 Resource Hacker - Free utility to view, modify, add, delete and extract resources in 32... Freeware541 KB UPX 3.01 UPX - The BEST free, portable, extendable, high-performance executable packer GPL310 KB EditPad Lite 6.3.1 A convenient, carefully designed text editor and Notepad replacement Freeware3.1 MB