Notepad3

Although the Windows operating system was updated significantly over the past years.  However, the default Windows Notepad has not been updated in 20 years. If you need a text editor for simple programming tasks, using the vanilla Windows Notepad just does not cut it.

Therefore, we created Notepad3 with all the features that the default Windows Notepad currently lacks. Notepad3 is a fast and light-weight Scintilla-based text editor with syntax highlighting. It has a small memory footprint, but is powerful enough to handle most programming jobs.

Basic Notepad3 Features

Furthermore, Notepad3 has the following features: code folding, bracket matching, automatic indentation, word auto-completion, convert character encoding between various formats (ASCII, UTF-8, and UTF-16), newline format conversion (between DOS (CR/LF), Unix (LF), and Macintosh (CR) formats), multiple undo or redo, bookmarks, and regular expression-based find and replace.

Notepad3 Build 350 Screen

Supported Languages

Previously we mentioned that Notepad3 can handle almost any programming job and we are not lying. Just take a look at the list of supported programming languages below and spot your favorite.

It offers syntax highlighting support for ASP, assembly language, AutoHotkey, AutoIt3, AviSynth, Bash, BAT, C, C++, C#, CMake, CoffeeScript, Common Gateway Interface (CGI), Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), DIFF, HTML, INF, INI, Inno Setup, Java, JavaScript, LaTeX, Lua, Markdown, NSIS, Pascal, Perl, PHP, Python, REG, Ruby, SQL, Tcl, Visual Basic (VB), VBScript, VHDL scripts, XHTML, XML, YAML and improved support for NFO ANSI art.

Download Notepad3

Notepad3 comes in two flavors. A setup for installing Notepad3 to your computer and optionally replacing the default Windows Notepad. And a portable version for running it straight from a memory stick or portable hard drive. Just download which ever you prefer.

Description Download
Notepad3 Setup (Build 398) 1.9 MB 5,638 Download
Notepad3 Setup (Build 398) Replace Windows Notepad 1.9 MB 2,093 Download
Notepad3 Portable (Build 398) 1.8 MB 4,717 Download
PAD:

Installing Notepad3

Notepad3 is available for PCs running Windows XP (SP3), Vista, 7, 8, and 10. Simply download the installer below and run it to start the installation process. It supports replacing the default Windows Notepad using a clean, unobtrusive registry-based method, but can also be installed along-side Windows Notepad.

Source Code

Download Notepad3 source code below or browse the GitHub Repository.

Description Download
Notepad3 Source Code For Build 398 3.0 MB 581 Download

Contributors

 

Our Score
4.7 out of 5 stars
(15)

59 thoughts on “Notepad3”

  1. Jupe

    First off I would like to say thanks for continuing the development of Notepad2 and I love the new toolbar button size its great and a welcome change.

    I am having a problem with the line comment toggle which I usually access by the Ctrl+Q shortcut key but is also available under Edit Menu | Special | Toggle Line Comment, but the menu item is always unavailable and the shortcut key doesn’t work either, although if I try the same file in Notepad2 it works flawlessly, so could you please look into fixing this because I regularly use this feature in Notepad2 so its stopping me migrating.

    Reply ↓
  2. morty

    Love notepad 3, two minor irritations drove me to grab the source and make some tweaks:

    1:
    The settings/checksboxes in “Find text” are not remembered between sessions. I almost always used regex searches, and checking the box every time I run the app became irritating. So I added code to save & restore those checkbox states…

    added to SaveSettings():
    IniSectionSetInt(pIniSection, L”fuFlags”, efrData.fuFlags);
    IniSectionSetInt(pIniSection, L”IDC_FINDTRANSFORMBS”, efrData.bTransformBS);
    IniSectionSetInt(pIniSection, L”IDC_WILDCARDSEARCH”, efrData.bWildcardSearch);
    IniSectionSetInt(pIniSection, L”IDC_NOWRAP”, efrData.bNoFindWrap );

    added to LoadSettings():
    efrData.fuFlags |= IniSectionGetInt(pIniSection, L”fuFlags”, 0);
    efrData.bTransformBS = IniSectionGetInt(pIniSection, L”IDC_FINDTRANSFORMBS”, 0);
    efrData.bWildcardSearch= IniSectionGetInt(pIniSection, L”IDC_WILDCARDSEARCH”, 0);
    efrData.bNoFindWrap = IniSectionGetInt(pIniSection, L”IDC_NOWRAP”, 0);

    2:
    Space characters in regular expression searches were not matching correctly.
    eg: if the text was “the quick brown fox”, then a search for “quick brown” would return no matches in regex mode.

    Using the special character class “[[:space:]]” would return a match, that is, a search for “quick[[:space:]]brown” returns the correct match.

    So I fixed this in the function “long Document::FindText…” in Document.cxx by replacing all space charters in the search string with “[[:space:]]” just before it returns “return regex->FindText…”

    Reply ↓
  3. Mr Buddha

    So is this project abandoned, after just a few months of existence? I was so glad to learn that someone picked up Notepad2 development again, but now it seems to have been ceased again. There are known bugs (like the broken “strip trailing blanks” functionality) which haven’t been addressed for quite some time, and also the activities on Github are sparsely…

    And open and honest word would be enough: do we need to look for another editor which is still maintained? Or are you planning to continue caring about Notepad3? Thanks for a statement!

    Reply ↓
      1. Mr Buddha

        Ah, thanks for the reply and the explanation! Sorry for the harsh tone – that was based on past bad experience with the “Notepad2 mod” author who wouldn’t accept bug reports as some other kind of user contribution, only actual patches (which I cannot provide). I was afraid to learn that Notepad3 has been abandoned and wouldn’t be an alternative anymore.

        So I’m glad to hear that Notepad3 is alive and there will be future releases! For the time being I wouldn’t have problems with unsigned software…

        Thanks for your project and your continuation of that little Notepad gem!

        Reply ↓
  4. Putra

    Can you make the the button and icon in toolbar to be bigger? In HiDPI display, the buttons are really small.

    Is there an option for column mode editing or am I missing that? If its not exist yet, can you add column mode editing.

    Thank you so much.

    Reply ↓
  5. ruoaa

    It`s sad it doesn`t support Arabic it only gives ???????????? instead of Arabic letters i hope you add more languages soon or at least use UTF-8 encoding

    Reply ↓
  6. El Kabongo

    Houston, we have a problem.

    In “Find Text” dialog (or “Replace Text” and Regular expression search box ticked), I can´t “Find Previous” this string

    (\d\d)\s\1

    on this text (for example):

    03 03 04 05 06 07 08 09
    03 03 04 05 06 07 08 09
    03 03 04 05 06 07 08 09
    03 03 04 05 06 07 08 09
    03 03 04 05 06 07 08 09
    03 03 04 05 06 07 08 09
    03 03 04 05 06 07 08 09
    03 03 04 05 06 07 08 09
    03 03 04 05 06 07 08 09
    03 03 04 05 06 07 08 09
    03 03 04 05 06 07 08 09
    03 03 04 05 06 07 08 09
    03 03 04 05 06 07 08 09
    03 03 04 05 06 07 08 09
    03 03 04 05 06 07 08 09

    but, “Find Next” is working.

    In Notepad2 and Notepad2BE works fine.

    Can you fix this? Thanks in advance.

    Reply ↓
  7. RafaelE

    Hello,

    I just came to know your Notepad3 and like it a lot. It has some enhancements over the NP2 that I find very usefull.

    However I have to comment that whenever I use replace of text using regular expressions the programm hangs and I have to kill the process.

    I’m using Windows 10 running over Intel Core i7 with 12 GB in RAM.

    Reply ↓
    1. RafaelE

      Just to make it clear, I’m trying to do a replace end of “$” line with “,”

      I’ve done some other simple regular expression replacements without major problems.

      Reply ↓
      1. RaPeHoff

        Hi,
        switch on the View->Show Line Endings and use the “Find Next” and “Replace” buttons within the RegEx-Replace dialog to see the single steps:
        “$” refers to the end of the line (just before the CR/LF characters). Replacing it with a character (e.g. a “,”) will put the “,” at the end of the line and move the “$” reference just behind that. Find next “$” is already the current position, inserting the “,” again, moving the eol-reference, chaching you in an infinite (the memory will limit this) loop.

        I think: you want to replace the line-break characters “\r\n” (Windows: CR LF) with a “,” – try this.

        Reply ↓
        1. RafaelE

          Hi,

          Thank you for your comment.

          To clarify, I’m not trying to change the “\r\n” or the “\n”. I just want to add a “,” and the end of the line. My issue comes from using “replace all” since I’m doing a replacement of only EOF ($) on both Unix and DOS/Windows files.

          If I try to change any character before EOL (e.g. “-$” or “~$”) and press “Replace All” button, the process run OK.

          If I try to change ONLY the EOF (e.g. “$”) and press Replace All button, the editor hangs

          If I use “Find Next + Replace” buttons the only EOF being changed is the current line (where the cursor is), never goes to the next line to make the change.

          Reply ↓
    1. Rizonesoft Post author

      Sorry about this. I fixed it and it is working on Windows XP now. Will have the new release up in a few hours. 🙂

      Reply ↓
  10. Mr Buddha

    The most recent version (386) broke the ALT+W shortcut (“Strip Trailing Blanks”). Trailing tabs are not removed anymore, but in my opinion they should be covered by that as well (as it was the case in Notepad2 and in Notepad3 until version 350). Thanks for reverting that change, or making it an option otherwise!

    Reply ↓
  12. GStathops

    Also please can you make in text hyperlinks and e-mail adresses clickable?
    Thank you

    Reply ↓
  13. adkurz

    Please label the two Input fields in the encryption dialog for Screen Readers like in the search and replace dialog.

    Reply ↓
    1. Rizonesoft Post author

      I’ll make the changes and it will be available in the next update.

      Reply ↓
  15. 1NDecent

    Hi,

    Is it just me, or the “Notepad3 Setup – Build 350 (64 and 32 Bit)” links to a corrupted file. I did it three times already. Here are the checksums:

    File: Notepad3-1.0.2.350.exe
    CRC-32: c879cc1e
    MD4: dcf41419d06448deae39da500e48c4db
    MD5: 350cb591fb4ae63b0db861fb1965e80e
    SHA-1: d42044c8514ede021779cb913010099d939ca5a3

    Reply ↓
    2. Rizonesoft Post author

      Ok, The link has been fixed. Please let me know if it works. 🙂

      Reply ↓
  16. Carlos

    Hi, i like see an more updated notepad2, heh notepad3 is a good name choise 🙂
    I wish see really new features on it, (without make this bloated ofcourse heh)
    * Translations support.
    * Tabbed MDI (multiple document interface), PMDI (pseudo multi-window interface) modes
    An example with this features is AkelPad https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AkelPad

    i don’t understand why if notepad2 is using scintilla not have this features while scite and others scintilla based if.

    Regards.

    Reply ↓
  17. Si Hammer

    How do you do?
    I’m quite happy with it, Notepad3 that is, + it seems to me you’ve got your work cut out with all the “it hasn’t got this, it hasn’t got that” from seemingly all angles. So, I ask nothing of you, make no request or appeal + am happy to make do with what there is, it could be a generation thing? When I were a lad……………………

    Reply ↓
      1. rachman

        Seems he talked about tabbed interface, like Notepad++

        Reply ↓
        1. Rizonesoft Post author

          Thanks. We will not be working on tabbed interface soon. But maybe later.

          Reply ↓
  22. Dieter

    Hi,
    I’m using dark colors: Default Style=font:Lucida Console; size:10; fore:#FFFFFF; back:#333333

    It would be very nice to have an option to set the color for the cursor too in the Notepad3.ini.

    Thanks in advance

    Reply ↓
  24. Yuuta

    Would you please update it with larger icon in toolbar? I’m using 125 scaling so in HiDPI res (mine 1080p) the toolbar is quite small. Perhaps also with minimal/material design, monochrome icon (like in Android, iOS app, Microsoft Edge, etc).

    Reply ↓
  25. webfork

    Where’s the source code posted? Also could you setup a Github (or similar) site for this? I think that would make it a bit easier to track issues.

    Reply ↓
  26. George

    Hello,
    I just came across the notepad3 through a post I saw on the notpad2-mod website.

    One thing I really appreciate here over the notepad2-mod is that changes to new versions are listed 🙂

    Have been using notepad2 and the -mod for years now, but have always missed out on couple of features I had with Emeditor (before it became paid software and bulky). Not sure you would find this useful enough to take a look, but would help me and maybe others if you could consider these:

    This Emeditor that I had, had this one feature I value a lot. As with notepad3, when I search for a text within the file, it, highlights all instances of that word and the cursor moves to the first found instance. On pressing F3 or Find next, it still keeps everything highlighted but moves to the next instance. The Status bar gives information of the number of found items. The advantage is that even without pressing F3 or Find next, the user can just scroll down and see all highlighted items. A menu command allows to remove highlights.

    Also, would it be possible to highlight and make clickable all urls and email addresses.

    Emeditor has got this small but very useful thing. If a file has already been saved, the Save button icon and option under file are not clickable and are greyed out.

    Would really like to know if you think they are useful and possibly implementable.

    Thanks,

    Reply ↓
    1. Rizonesoft Post author

      Just give me a week max to work on this. Check back next week for an update.

      Reply ↓
  28. war59312

    Compared to Notepad2-mod

    Missing questions marks on search and replace windows. Questions marks give all the options for both Regular expression search and Transform backslashes.

    Wildcard search is missing completely.

    Reply ↓
  30. Bob Smith

    One item I wish Notepad2 had, and now Notepad3, …is a ‘Select All’ toolbar button.
    Not exactly a show stopper without it, just an added convenience if it was available.

    Also wondering since I presently have Notepad2 installed as my Windows notepad replacement,
    do I need to uninstall it first, then install Notepad3 as the Windows notepad replacement, or can
    I just run the Notepad3 setup exe with the install taking care of making it the system default Notepad?

    Thank You Sir.

    Reply ↓
    1. Rizonesoft Post author

      Better to uninstall Notepad2 before installing Notepad3 because it uses another method for replacing the Windows Notepad. Try Edit -> Select All!

      Reply ↓
  32. SHJordan

    Getting this error while opening the file… I tried downloading it with and without IDM.

    Reply ↓
    1. Rizonesoft Post author

      Ok, its fixed. There was a problem in my download system when downloading exes. I created a zip file with the exe in it. Let me know if its working for you now please.

      Reply ↓

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