The best Notepad++ alternatives for Windows are text editors you can download on your PC. If you’re a programmer who works as a front-end or back-end developer, you’ll surely know more about Notepad++. While Notepad++ is perfect for writing codes or editing texts, it doesn’t look advanced, unlike most modern ones. In a similar article, we mentioned the best Windows Notepad alternatives that can be used.
When it comes to text editing or writing scripting languages like HTML, CSS or JavaScript, Notepad++ has been a go-to text editor for Windows users. There’s no doubt it is one of the best text editors for PC and it is available on Windows, macOS and Linux. It is known for its simplicity, versatility and extensive features. However, if you’re looking to explore more options, there are plenty of them online.
In this article on Naijaknowhow, we’ve curated the best Notepad++ alternatives for Windows. Whether you’re using Windows 10, Windows 11 or any older version of Windows, these text editors work. They’re capable of any modern programming languages and older ones. In addition, most of these text editors are freeware, open-source and can be downloaded anywhere.
List of The Best Notepad ++ Alternatives for Windows
From plugins, themes, emmet and other important tools, these text editor offers them all. The fact that they’re free even makes them worth the hype. If you’re looking for an alternative to Notepad++ for Windows, you can explore the options below.
1. Visual Studio Code
Popularly known as VSCode, Visual Studio Code is one of the best Notepad++ alternatives for Windows. Developed by Microsoft, Visual Studio Code makes it easier to write code as a starter and as a beginner. It’s known for its versatility and broad adoption within the developer community. Visual Studio Code boasts a vast marketplace of extensions and plugins for customization, built-in Git support for version control, and high customizability with a wide range of themes and settings.
VSCode is free, highly extensible, and offers excellent support for various programming languages. If you want to write some cloud programming languages, Visual Studio Code is the perfect choice. In addition to VSCode features, it offers syntax highlighting, code refactoring, snippets and emmet abbreviations to make codes easy. Whether you’re on Windows 32-bit or 64-bit architecture, Visual Studio Code can be downloaded on both.
2. Sublime Text
Similar to Visual Studio Code, Sublime Text makes sense as an alternative to Notepad++ for Windows users. Sublime Text is one of the best and most popular text editors known for its speed and sleek user interface. While writing codes, Sublime Text offers a distraction-free writing experience that makes code writing better. Sublime Text supports multiple selections and powerful search and replace functionality.
Furthermore, Sublime Text is known for its speed, simplicity and robust functions. If you want to write the latest version of scripting languages like HTML5, CSS3 and so on, Sublime Text has got you covered. If you’re searching for a fast, feature-rich text editor with extensive customization options. you can download Sublime Text. Although there’s a downside to using the free version, it doesn’t have many advanced features like the paid one.
3. Adobe Dreamweaver
When it comes to web development and learning programming Adobe Dreamweaver is one of the best software to use. It offers an easier way to build websites and design applications. One of the standout features is the visual interface that comes with a robust code editor. Whether you’re a web designer or developer, Adobe Dreamweaver is a top choice. Compared to Notepad++, Adobe Dreamweaver doesn’t come free, which makes it hard to get for most people.
Adobe Dreamweaver includes visual design tools for creating websites without extensive coding, a code editor with syntax highlighting, auto-indentation, code suggestions, live preview, and multi-screen support for testing web projects, and integration with Adobe Creative Cloud services. If you’re looking for one of the best Notepad++ alternatives to download and install on your PC, Dreamweaver is a top choice. You’ll only need to be on a monthly subscription to enjoy full access to Adobe Dreamweaver.
4. Emacs
Emacs is one of the oldest text editors available on the internet, despite being old it still makes sense for coding. This code offers editor tons of built-in functions and packages for text editing and customization, and extensive keyboard shortcuts for efficient navigation and editing. Furthermore, it offers support for various programming languages through modes and extensions, and a vibrant user community contributing to its development.
One downside of this tool is that the interface might not be as friendly as a beginner but it makes sense. Notepad++ might be quite old just like this one but Emacs does seem to be the go-to option for most people. If you appreciate powerful features that streamline the web development process, you’ll love this text editor. Also, it is highly customizable, which makes it a recommended code editor for Windows.
5. Atom
Atom is one of the best Notepad++ alternatives for Windows, it is an open-source text editor. Developed by GitHub, Atom makes it easy to write codes on Windows. One of the cool features is the package manager which offers customization through packages and themes.
Atom is free, offers extensive customization through packages, and also streamlines collaboration among developers. While Atom does make sense, it has some performance issues. When working with large files, the text editor offers poor performance.
6. NetBeans
Another Notepad++ alternative for Windows users is NetBeans, it is an open-source text editor. NetBeans is more of an IDE which is focused on Java development but it also supports other programming languages. Even if you’re not familiar with writing Java codes, NetBeans will allow you to write other programming languages. This editor supports various programming languages, including Java, PHP, C++, and more.
Furthermore, It provides a powerful code editor with syntax highlighting and code completion, integrated version control with Git, Mercurial, and Subversion, and extensibility through a range of plugins and modules. NetBeans is a versatile IDE suitable for Java and multi-language development, offering an array of features to streamline your workflow. The only downside of NetBeans is that it might not be as fast as Notepad++ and other alternatives.
Conclusion
Notepad++ is a legendary text editor and there’s no doubt about that. To some developers, it is still their preferred text editor and it answers all tasks. But if you’re starting off a newbie, using Notepad++ might not be the best decision. The alternatives mentioned above are perfect for newbies and professionals, you can use them for software development, web development, etc. Aside from Adobe Dreamweaver, all the text editors listed can be downloaded for free.
