How to Replace Notepad With Notepad++ or Any Other Text Editor?

Notepad is a light-weight program suitable for users who need only very minimal text editing features. For additional features and functionalities, third-party editors like Notepad++ and Sublime Text are awesome with a lot of features built-in.

If you’re looking how to completely replace the plain old Notepad with Notepad++ or any third-party editor, this post tells you how to do it. Notepad++ is a free source code editor and Notepad replacement that supports several languages. Let’s see how you can replace Notepad with Notepad++ without replacing any system files.

(Proceed directly to the RECOMMENDED method.)

How to Replace Notepad with Notepad++ in Windows?

Method 1: Associate Text Files (.txt) with Notepad++

1. Create a sample text document on the desktop.
2. Right-click on the file and click Properties.

   

3. Click the Change button, select Notepad++ from the list of apps shown, and click OK.
   

   If Notepad++ isn’t listed there, click “More apps” to show the extended list. Notepad++ may not be listed there if you’re using the portable edition. If so, click “Look for another app on this PC” and manually browse the Notepad++ folder to select the executable. The default Notepad++ executable path is C:\Program Files (x86)\Notepad++\notepad++.exe

   RELATED: How to Add “Open with Notepad++” to the Right-click Menu in Windows

   Double-clicking .txt files will now open Notepad++.

Changing the file association is sufficient for most users. However, if you want to completely replace Notepad with Notepad++ so that every call to Notepad will launch Notepad++, follow one of the options listed under Method 2.

Method 2: Replace Notepad with Notepad++ Using Debugger Registry Value

Windows provides a way to redirect a program (process) using the debugger registry value. Once you redirect a program using this method, every time you launch Notepad by running notepad.exe directly, or when running a text file, Notepad++ starts instead of Notepad.

Option 1: Using Notepad++’s new command-line

Note: This is the RECOMMENDED method. It doesn’t need a 3rd party program or script.

If you have Notepad++ version 7.5.9 and higher, you can run the following command to make Notepad++ replace Notepad.

1. Start an elevated or administrator Command Prompt
2. Copy the following command and paste it in the Command Prompt window:

   reg add "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\notepad.exe" /v "Debugger" /t REG_SZ /d "\"%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Notepad++\notepad++.exe\" -notepadStyleCmdline -z" /f

   Note that you may need to use “%ProgramFiles%\Notepad++\” to substitute for “%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Notepad++\” if you have Notepad++ 64-bit installed, or use other path if your Notepad++ is installed in a non-default location.

   After running the command, this is how the debugger registry value looks like:

   You can also modify the above registry value using the Registry Editor (regedit.exe) if you don’t prefer the command-line method.

   To undo (reverse) the replacement, use the following command:

   reg delete "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\notepad.exe" /v "Debugger" /f

3. Close the Command Prompt window.

Option 2: Use NotepadReplacer program

NotepadReplacer software from Binary Fortress lets you replace Notepad the easy way! No registry edits needed; the program does that automatically.

Download the NotepadReplacer program and run it.

Choose the Notepad alternative (say, Notepad++) by browsing and selecting the executable, and complete the steps.

This program sets the debugger for Notepad automatically, redirecting it to “NotepadReplacer.exe”, a proxy program which then launches Notepad++ and passes the file name arguments to it.

Option 3: Using a Custom Vbscript

Here is a script method written a long time back and still works. This tiny script intercepts the file name argument(s) used with Notepad.exe, and pass it on to Notepad++ automatically.

1. Open Notepad, copy the following lines and paste them:

   Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
   If wscript.arguments.count <2 then
   	WshShell.run "notepad++.exe"
   Else
   	sCmd = "notepad++.exe " & """" & wscript.arguments(1) & """"
   	WshShell.run sCmd
   End If
   

2. Save the file as npp.vbs
3. Move the file to C:\Windows directory.
4. Start the Registry Editor and go to:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options

5. Create a subkey named notepad.exe
6. Under notepad.exe key, create a string value (REG_SZ) named Debugger
7. Double-click Debugger and set its data as follows:

   c:\windows\system32\wscript.exe "c:\windows\npp.vbs"

   

8. Then, go to the following key:

   HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\txtfile\shell\open\command

9. Double-click (default) and change the value data from:

   %SystemRoot%\system32\NOTEPAD.EXE %1

   to the following:

   %SystemRoot%\system32\NOTEPAD.EXE "%1"

10. Exit the Registry Editor.

Automate Methods Using REG files

Download replace-notepad.zip, unzip and run the appropriate REG file. There is also an undo.reg file provided if you want to reverse the changes made.

That’s it! Hope one of the methods above helped you replace Notepad with Notepad++. The methods can also be adopted for any other text editor of your choice.

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