Install Notepad++
Post date: Dec 05, 2016 1:14:16 AM
Notepad++ is my favorite text editor for Windows. It surpassed ConTEXT in features several years ago, and has a 64-bit version.
Install Notepad++
Go to the Notepad++ download page: https://notepad-plus-plus.org/download
Click the download link for the 64-bit installer: Version 7.2.2 link
Run the installer, and use (mostly) the default options:
English language
Agree to the GPLv2 license
Install to C:\Program Files\Notepad++
Unselect the Auto-Updater
Create a shortcut on the desktop
Configure Notepad++
The defaults are pretty good, though I recommend the following changes.
Use the "Settings" menu, "Preferences...".
General
Tab Bar
Select "Multi-line"
Editing
Unselect "Enable current line highlighting"
Select "Enable smooth font"
New Document
Format (Line ending)
Select "Unix (LF)"
Encoding
Unselect "Apply to opened ANSI files"
File Association (Register the following)
Notepad
.txt
.log
ms ini/inf
.ini
.inf
c, c++, objc
.h
.c
.cpp
.m
java, c#, pascal
.java
.cs
.inc
public script
.sh
.bat
.cmd
.lua
.pl
.pm
.py
property script
.vb
.vbs
fortran, TeX, SQL
.sql
Language
Language Menu
Disable any programming languages you don't use
Tab Settings
Enable "Replace by space"
Auto-Completion
Select "Function completion"
From "3"th character
Sharing Configuration
Preferences are set on a per-user basis. After closing Notepad++, the preferences are written to %appdata%\Notepad++\config.xml.
The Preferences location can be changed through the "Settings" menu > "Preferences" > "Cloud" option. You can store it in a synchronized folder such as "OneDrive" or "DropBox". On a new computer, it might be quicker to set the cloud location than to add all of the preferences again.