Windows 10 comes with a default text editor: the ever-reliable Notepad. We all know that this robust app is pretty much archaic and lacks features needed by current programmers, coders, developers, and webmasters. Notepad was introduced back in 1985 when Windows 1.0 was released. Fast forward to 2021, the needs for a text editor has
evolved so much that an alternative is not only an option but a necessity. At present, features highly needed include syntax highlighting, syntax correction, language formatting, code folding, color schemes, tag suggestions, multi-tab interface, dual window panes, macros, RegEx, plugins, character encoding, advanced find and replacement, and more.
From the list below you can pick the latest replacement available for Windows Notepad. To add, all of them are downloadable for free (some are open-source, while others are closed-source). We have checked and tested all apps in Windows 10 and with VirusTotal and all of them came out clean and ready for download. For comparison, check this Notepad screenshot for reference.
Best free Notepad replacements
- Notepad++
is hands-down the most popular text editor replacement for Notepad. Notepad++ is an advanced and open-source text editor that is a favorite of most coders. It incorporates syntax highlighting, line numbers, multi-tab interface, dual pane windows, autosave, syntax completion, macros and more. Amazingly, this editor is also user-friendly and allows color theme tweaking as well as the installation of third party plugins. It only works with Windows, but can be tweaked to work with Linux (e.g. Fedora, Mint and Ubuntu) by using Snap packages. Lastly, it also includes automatic recognition of language used (CSS, HTML, XML, C, C++, Java and more) during editing.
- PilotEdit Lite
is the free version of PilotEdit but this lighter version is no patsy. PilotEdit Lite allows editing of files up to 10Gb and comparison of codes of up to 10 Billion lines. It also implements scripts as well as editing of FTP files. It supports UNICODE files and DOS/UNIX, HEX mode, RegEx and markdown for multiple languages. It’s main limitation is that it only works on Windows OS.
- Geany
is a powerful yet lightweight open-source text editor. It is multiplatform as it runs on Windows, Linux as well as Mac OS. It works with more than 50 programming languages. It is also multi-tab and allows third party plugins. Amazingly, this code editor is also a lightweight IDE and debugger.
- EditPad Lite
is free and advanced text editor available via Windows. It includes large file and long line support, whitespace trimming, full UNICODE, as well as scripts. It has tabbed interface, powerful find and replace tool, RegEx, and unlimited undo and redo.
- PSPad
is another advanced text editor that is only available via Windows. It has features like scripts, macros, RegEx, FTP, Hex editor and FTP upload. It also has templates for several programming languages, syntax highlighting as well HTML Tidy and CSS TopStyle Lite. One unique feature is the ability to natively preview HTML using available browsers.
- NoteTab Light
is the free version of NoteTab Pro. It is available only in Windows. NoteTab Light also supports RegEx and scripts. It has native support for several libraries like HTML, CSS and Twitter Boostrap. It also implements web page templates as well as HTML Tidy for code optimization.
- GetDiz
is another Notepad replacement that is closed-source and available only via Windows. Originally created for NFO and DIZ files, it is also popular for displaying ASCII art and saving code to GIF images. It lacks features mostly available in other advanced text editors.
- FluentNotepad
is a basic text editor replacement for Notepad. It’s unique feature is the custom-built interface that uses a Ribbon-like UI and menus (Office 2007 and Office 2010). It also has line numbers as well as a status bar that shows total number of characters and lines.
- TED Notepad
is a non-bloated and free Windows-based text editor. It may look plain by looking at it’s interface, but TED Notepad allows GREP, RegEx, Shuffle and more. It also supports trimming of whitespaces, tabs and blank lines.
- Visual Code Studio
is more of a special mention as it is more of a Debugger and GIT control, although it also acts as an advanced text and code editor. The popular use of this open-source app among coders is the main reason why we included this one on our list. It also works with Microsoft Azure, allows third party extensions (like plugins), version control and task running. VCS also supports intellisense, a syntax completion feature. Lastly, it runs multi-platform, so you can install this on Linux, Windows and Mac OS.
Let us know if you have other suggestions that we can add to this Notepad alternative list. We’ll be more than happy to know your thoughts via email or your comments.
posted January 19, 2021 by THE11thROCK for TeraBlitz.com
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