Notepad has been a hallmark of the Windows operating system for decades, and for most of that Notepad has been largely unchanged. It has been simple, reliable, and one of my go-to programs. Recent updates have changed that, and I’ve started using something else entirely.
Notepad was sweet and simple for years
Notepad has been a simple, reliable plain text editor for decades. That has made it ideal for editing small configuration files for games or other programs, quickly writing small batch scripts, or any other activity that doesn’t require complex editing tools.
Additionally, because notepad was exceptionally simple, you could be sure that it wouldn’t accidentally mess with the formatting of a file that you were editing. Formatting might look like nothing but space to you, but depending on the program in question, there may actually be invisible characters inserted all over the place. Even if formatting is only done by inserting extra spaces or tabs, code is often sensitive to such things, and configuration files may be too.
That is why simple programs like Notepad win out over much more powerful word processors, like Microsoft Word, for editing text files and writing things like batch scripts.
What has gone wrong with Notepad?
Since the introduction of Windows 11 Notepad has continuously received a series of updates that expand its capabilities with new features. The most inexplicable of these updates is Copilot’s integration. That allows you to leverage a large language model, “artificial intelligence,” directly within Notepad.
Additionally, Notepad has received the ability to handle Markdown formatting, which is a popular way to apply formatting to text and documents. If you’ve ever added bold or italics to a message on Discord or WhatsApp, you’ve used a limited form of Markdown.
Notepad has also received tabs, which isn’t particularly egregious, but it does feel out of place.
As Notepad picks up features, it deviates further and further from what has made it a reliable little application that everyone uses now and then into something else entirely: A more fully-featured plain-text editor.
The only problem? There is already a fantastic fully-featured plain-text editor that has been available for years that is better than Microsoft’s “enhanced” Notepad. Given that Microsoft has now positioned Notepad such that it loses against its own competitors, I’ve abandoned it entirely.
Why You Need a Plain Text Editor
Sometimes, keeping it simple is the best option.
Notepad++ is everything Microsoft’s new Notepad wants to be
Notepad++, which has been around for more than 20 years, is a more advanced plain text editor that is packed with useful features. Remarkably, the entire program feels light and responsive, despite how many additional features it has.
I couldn’t list every minor improvement Notepad++ offers, but here are a few of my favorites.
Macros
If you’ve ever had to repeat one action on a PC more than a handful of times, you understand specifically how tedious it can be. Notepad+ allows you to generate your own macros that will automatically repeat a programmed action at the push of a button, which can save you an enormous amount of time and frustration if you apply it correctly in the right setting.
I’ve most frequently used it when I had to tweak multiple game files in the same way, but it isn’t limited to that.
Advanced Search and Replace
Normal search and replace is pretty limited. You type in a word or phrase, the application finds it, and then you can usually replace it with another word or phrase.
Notepad++ takes this to the next level by allowing you to use regular expressions (regex) to format your find and replace arguments. Regular expressions give you much more granular control over how your search and replace works.
For example, if you want to replace “oo” with “a,” but only if the “oo” follows the letter R or the letter B and is followed by the letter T, you can do that. That way, you search and replace would ignore the words book, rook, or soot, but would change root and boot into rat and bat respectively.
Regex can look a little daunting at first, but once you get the hang of it, it is incredibly powerful.
Great plugins
Unlike Notepad, Notepad++ supports a huge number of plugins—hundreds—that do everything from providing minor visual changes to Notepad++ to providing brand-new functionality. Additionally, if you’re particularly motivated, you could also write and release your own plugin for the community to use.
Notepad has been a staple of Windows for a long time, but in attempting to make it more fully-featured, Microsoft has reduced a lot of what made it appealing in the first place.
Rather than use Microsoft’s half-hearted upgrade to Notepad, I’ve opted to replace it entirely with something that was designed from its conception to be what Microsoft is attempting to change Notepad into.
