Notepad++ Review & Best Plugins in 2021

Notepad++ is a source code editor and notepad replacement that supports several languages in a MS Windows environment with Syntax highlighing and folding, PCRE, customizable GUI, auto-completion and more.

I have been using Notepad++ for more than 10 years and it’s the only Windows program that I actually miss on MacOSX and open a Virtual Machine to use it gladly since it isn’t strictly required for my job, but I have found a good replacement yet, the number of addons available and the quality of them is not yet there in alternatives like Atom, Visual Studio Code, Sublime text, etc… the community support is really amazing with plugins like NppCompare, NppFTP, NppSalt and many more.

Pros

• Being able to open a document, select from numerous different coding languages, and then automatically have Notepad++ display the document with that language’s color-coded syntax is extremely helpful for quickly analyzing and dissecting code.
• Being able to download Plugins for various purposes allows Notepad++ to continually adapt and expand for continued use.
• The fact that Notepad++ is free and open-source software is great for a budget-conscious buyer, but it also means that there is no ulterior motives (e.g. cross-selling products) nor is there a worry about licensing.
• One convenient feature about Notepad++ is that any document you are working on is always saved in memory. This is very helpful if you accidentally close out of the app, or if you are forced to close out (e.g. software update, lose power), you will not lose the work you had opened.
• The ability to search through a document and have it highlight instances (in a specific color, for easy readability) of the selected phrase you’re searching for is incredibly helpful. Buiding on this, the ability to quickly compare two documents to identify any difference- line by line- has proved incredibly helpful when comparing code and when comparing non-code document.

Cons

• The “Style Token” feature on Notepad++ could use improvement. Color markings are unpredictable when applied, making a potentially very helpful feature unusable.
• Notepad++ does have an issue in displaying and handling very large volumes of data. That is, files exceeding 50MB usually lag when opened in Notepad++ and are difficult to copy and paste.

Check out notepad++ here

https://notepad-plus-plus.org/downloads/

Plugins

1. Snippet Plugin

The snippet plugin comes in handy when you want to save the code in a snippet. In short, if you are bad at remembering the codes, you can save the code to use them later. Using this plugin, you can also execute the code that is being kept in the snippet. The snippet plugin thus shows the results. This is the reason I personally like this plugin.

2. Code Alignment

As the name suggests, this plugin aligns the code. But the level of alignment is pretty good to manage multiple variable assignments. You can also use user-centric-shortcuts, that can be handy while coding. Here is an example.

Var a = {2, 4, 5, 1}

3. NppSalt

This plugin comes in ingenious when dealing with the two or more files. It has the following features.

• If someone changes the opened file or files, the screen will flash if you have installed this plugin.
• If you are on more than one session on Notepad++, then this plugin prevents the overwriting between both sessions.

4. Autosave

The first thought you can have in mind right now is that why there is no autosave option in the Notepad++, and we have to install a plugin for that? Well, it is what it is. There is no built-in autosave feature in Notepad++, and you have to install this plugin.

This plugin is a must-have plugin for the coders. The most fun part is that you can set a timer on the autosave, thus after that time, it saves the code and can save your efforts too.

Moreover, wherever you will get exit from the Notepad++, it will automatically save the file without your permission. So in case if you close the window by mistake, you always have a backup for your code.

5. Multi-Clipboard

Although this feature has been introduced in Windows now, if you have an older version of the windows, then you can install this plugin in your notepad++. After installing the plugin, you can open a side window in which you can see all of your copied vital phrases. Here you can select the phrase that you want to paste.

6. Explorer

This is one of the most famous Notepad++ plugin. You have to peek through several files while coding, and a coder knows that very well.

You can open in a separate window and can see on which file you are working right now. Moreover, you can also get the file location and can open the file directly using the explorer plugin.

7. Compare

Moreover, you can also edit the documents while comparing them.

8. SpellChecker

You may be very good at writing or grammar, but you can make some mistakes; this can ruin your code, thus a lot of your time. Thanks to the spellChecker plugin, you can now write with confidence and can give more focus to your coding rather than your grammar.

9. Preview HTML

Once you complete the code and want to see that, Notepad++ open that in the default browser. But if you don’t want to open that in any browser, you can install this plugin and can save your time by running your code on a separate window of notepad++.

10. Emmet

If you are using Notepad++ for development purposes, then this is a must-have plugin for you. It gives a lot of ease to the developers like code completion, abbreviations that extend to multiple lines in code, and much more. Emmet was known and the zen coding previously, but now you can download it as a Notepad++ plugin.

11. Customize Toolbar

This is one of the best Notepad++ plugins. Everyone loves shortcuts, and the toolbar is a great place to place shortcuts. If you want to customize your toolbar fully, you can install this plugin, and you can add, remove, or displace the menu items for your ease. This plugin comes in handy when you spend most of your time coding.

12.NPPExport

In case you published the code in Markdown and also you wish to talk about it with somebody, you are going to have to change it to HTML before you are able to send out them as the receiver may not keep applications to look at markdown files. The NPPExport plugin converts markdown files to HTML or maybe RTF(Rich Text Format).

13. JSToolNpp

From the title, you are able to quickly guess this plugin should be connected with javascript, and of course, it’s! This plugin is really useful when doing work in javascript.

It’s a number of critical features:

• JSON: This person is going to display that selected JSON text in its own window in a tree form.
• JMIN: This reduces the dimensions of the javascript file, by eliminating enters, comments, and whitespaces.
• JS Format: The JS format is applied to clean up the code by eliminating whitespace.

14. Finger Text

Finger Text is one more great plugin that’s helpful when composing the exact same block of code many times, a real time-saver plugin that takes away the intense repeated things in composing the code.

15.NppFTP

This plugin offers an FTP window with that we are able to handle those files & folders which are currently offered in the FTP server(hosting).

• This plugin is essential for the programmers that aren’t good at indenting the code of theirs.
• This plugin supports Php and C/C++ languages.
• Indentation is really important since it helps you to boost the code readability.

16.CharM

This plugin offers you a lot of symbols to select from. The symbols include special characters and accents which could be accessed exclusively using the keyboard.

17.SnippetExecutor

This plugin allows you to compile snippets of code and perform them as well as supply the output after the delivery.

18. TextFX Plugin

These plugin aids in the closing of tags and can save some time of yours in XML and HTML with an auto-close tag. This can certainly make web development effective to some extent. Function list In case you’re writing a code that requires a lot of methods or functions and also you have to evaluate those over and over or maybe you might wish to see what functions you’ve made then this plugin is perfect for you.

It is going to give you the details of all of the functions of the task of yours.

How to install the Notepad++ plugins?

This does not involve any coding or long process, and you have to go to the Plugin Manager and select the desired plugin that you want to install. Here is the step by step process to get access to the plugins that you may want to install.

1. Open the Plugins menu and access the Plugin manager.
2. Now select the desired plugin and click on the install button. Install Plugin – Best Notepad++ Plugins
3. The plugin will start downloading and installing at the same time.
4. After that, you can use that plugin from the main menu.

Plugin manager does not have a search feature, so you may have to struggle a bit. But there is another method to install the plugins. For that, you have to download the plugin’s file from the developer’s website and paste that file at C:Program Files(x86)Notepad++plugins.

Now restart the Notepad++ app, and you are done.

Here’s a short tutorial on plugins.