Download Notepad++ 8.6

Version 8.6 of Notepad++ has been released, exactly twenty years after the first version was released. This extensive text editor has various options that are especially useful for programmers, such as syntax highlighting for C, C++, Java, HTML, XML and PHP, among others. The program also offers the option to edit more than one document at the same time or maintain one document in two different places. If you want to use the latest version, you must download it yourself. Notepad++'s built-in updater only offers updates a week after their release, in order to resolve any serious bugs. The release notes for this release can be found below:

Notepad++ v8.6: 20th Year Anniversary

Today marks the 20th anniversary of Notepad++ (November 23, 2003), when it launched its first version (v1.0) on SourceForge. From v1.0 to the current v8.6, there have been 238 official releases (excluding some releases that were withdrawn due to critical bugs). I still remember that between the v1.x and the v2.0, I repeatedly signed up on various websites, so that I could spam the forums with “Notepad++ is awesome!” message. At the beginning of the project, it has been a one-man show from coding to web design to marketing to logo design to user interaction, which confirms that “Doing open source projects is like being stranded on a deserted island. The bad news is you have to do everything yourself. The good news is you have to do everything yourself.”

As the user base grew, so did Notepad++'s popularity, and I no longer needed to go to different forums and scream “Notepad++ is awesome!”. Meanwhile, the feature requests and bug reports also surged, and fortunately contributors started to join the Notepad++ project and help to enhance features and fix bugs. These contributors include coders, testers, translators from various countries, and power users who know Notepad++ functions better than I do (they exist, though they are rare 🙂 ) who write and maintain Notepad++ User Manualand also help to manage issues and answer the questions of regular users on the forum – thanks to these contributors' dedication to the project, the Notepad++ community has emerged. On this occasion of Notepad++'s 20th birthday, I want to express my gratitude to all the contributors: without you, Notepad++ wouldn't be what it is today.

Notepad++ v8.6 new features & bug fixes:

• Multi-edit is fully supported in Notepad++. (Fix #14266, #8203)
• Make multi-select background & caret colors customizable. (Fix #14302)
• Make session inaccessible files remembered (empty & read-only document as placeholder). (Fix #12079, #12744, #13696)
• Fix missing session invalid error for user session & enhance API NPPM_GETNBSESSIONFILES. (Fix #14228)
• Fix network shared files saving regression. (Fix #14300)
• Update Scintilla to v5.3.8 & Lexilla to v5.2.8. (Fix #13442, #14188, #14288)
• Fix docking panel crash due to messing up config.xml. (Fix bug report
• Fix invalid styler.xml making Notepad++ crash issue. (Fix #12101)
• Fix tab-closing crash by middle mouse button (unexpected mouse position). (Fix #14328)
• Fix 2 performance issues in Style Configurator. (Fix #14321)
• Add 3 line operation (delete, copy & cut) shortcuts. (Fix #14296)
• Display additional info in the status bar of Find/Replace dialog to avoid PEBKAC. (Fix #14307)
• Fix “Hide lines” command hiding unselected lines issue. (Fix #14166)
• Fix silent installer mode when Notepad++ is running issue. (Fix #10189, #10277, #22514, #14236fix partially #8514)
• Fix Updater's vulnerability (update cURL in WinGUp for fixing CVE-2023-38545). (Fix WinGUp issue #50)
• Fix inconsistent behavior of “Duplicate Current Line” menu command. (Fix #5298)
• Fix JSON5 not using JSON keywords. (Fix #14205)
• Fix empty message showing while canceling session file saving dialog. (Fix #14235)