Quickstart

This quickstart gets you productive in a few minutes.

1) Create or open a file

• Create a new tab with File > New (Ctrl+N)
• Open a file with File > Open (Ctrl+O)
• You can also drag and drop files into the main window

2) Edit and save

• Type directly in the editor
• Markdown files use extra source coloring for headings, quotes, lists, links, emphasis, rules, and inline code
• Save with File > Save (Ctrl+S)
• Use File > Save As (Ctrl+Shift+S) for a new path
• Use File > Save All (Ctrl+Alt+S) to write every modified tab in both panes in one step (you'll be prompted once per untitled tab)
• The status bar shows line/column, encoding, language, and how long ago the file was last modified. The modified-age display omits zero day/hour units, and briefly pulses (opacity dim plus a yellow background flash) for a few seconds whenever a save (or a fresh on-disk write) resets it to "0 minutes ago" — the corresponding tab header also briefly flashes yellow to draw your eye to the changed file

3) Find text quickly

• Open Find with Search > Find (Ctrl+F)
• Use Find Next (F3) and Find Previous (Shift+F3)
• Open Replace with Search > Replace (Ctrl+H)
• Jump between matching brackets with Search > Jump to Matching Bracket (Ctrl+B)
• Toggle a bookmark with Ctrl+F2, jump to next with F2, previous with Shift+F2

4) Use tabs and views

• Each file opens in its own tab
• Right-click a file-backed tab to copy its full path, open its containing folder in Explorer, close it, close all tabs in that pane, close all but that tab, move it to the other pane, or clone it
• Open markdown preview from the tab context menu

5) Set your preferred look

• Toggle theme from the toolbar
• Configure editor defaults in Settings > Preferences

6) Record repetitive edits

• Start macro recording with Macro > Start/Stop Recording (Ctrl+Shift+R)
• Perform the actions once, then stop recording
• Replay anytime with Macro > Playback Last Macro (Ctrl+Shift+M)

7) Troubleshooting with the log file

If something goes wrong, the built-in log file makes it easy to capture what happened so you (or a developer) can diagnose the problem.

Turn on logging

1. Open Settings > Preferences and go to the System tab.
2. Check Enable file logging and click OK.
3. The log file is created immediately at %AppData%\NotepadPlusPlusClone\NotepadPlusPlusClone.log.

Reproduce the issue

1. Once logging is on, restart the application so the startup sequence is captured.
2. Perform the exact steps that trigger the problem — the log records every action you take (opening, saving, copying, previewing, formatting, searching, changing settings, etc.) along with any warnings or errors.
3. If the application crashes, the crash details are always written to the log file regardless of whether logging is enabled.

Find and send the log file

1. In Settings > Preferences > System, click Open log folder to open the folder in Explorer.
2. The file is called NotepadPlusPlusClone.log. It is a plain text file you can open in any editor.
3. Attach the log file when reporting a bug or emailing the developer — the timestamps, actions, and exception details inside it are usually enough to pinpoint the cause.

Tip: If the log file grows large, the app will remind you. You can delete it and keep logging, or turn logging off to save space. Fatal crash information is always logged even when logging is off.

Next steps

Use the topics list to read detailed guides for compare workflows, formatting tools, encoding options, and settings.