Notepad almost fits my spec (startup time, simple, quick UI), but it doesn't have syntax highlighting or anything useful for text manipulation/navigation/etc.
I could never get along with Notepad++ - it's hard to explain why, because I can see it's a fantastic editor and is very popular, but it just doesn't fit into the way I work I suppose.
I think the main key points for me are startup time and syntax highlighting.
Thank you!
Bonus: it works cross platform (windows/mac/linux).
- $99 (USD) for a perpetual licence for the current version at the time of purchase + 3 years worth of updates.
- Per-user rather than per-machine, so you can install it on multiple machines with a single licence.
I have yet to find it's max file size limit. It can seemingly open up literally anything with no perf impact.
That said, if your file is more reasonably sized (I've opened 7GB files no problem) then the performance and feature set you get is impressive. You can get instant scrolling to anywhere in the file, full syntax highlighting, find and replace, multiple cursors, etc all with reasonable performance. I find it does lag a little when making edits - especially with multiple cursors - but it's still quite usable.
It also eschews Windows’ notoriously dodgy text rendering in favor of its own which means that it doesn’t share text rendering quirks with e.g. Visual Studio (the full fat IDE, not the electron thing). When doing C# work I wish I could transplant Sublime’s editor view into Visual Studio because it’s just so much better.
Now, we need a project-editing IDE like JetBrains with better responsiveness.
Showing an OOM lower RAM and CPU use in the Task Manager.
For USD 99 you get three years of support for an individual license.
IIRC, by default, you'll get behavior similar to Notepad (so, things like ctrl+c/v will work, you don't need to learn Vim stuff). At least that was the case when I tried a few years back. If not, you can explicitly use easy mode to get this behavior. But of course, I'd suggest to learn Vim to get the best out of this editor :)
I would recommend hooking your compiler output up to the quickfix window so you can hop around to error messages. Other than that the stock setup will probably be a good base to go from.
For example, if windows update decides to reboot your machine your unsaved files will NOT be lost.
Notepad++ is extremely light, but has some basic code highlighting, refactor shortcuts, etc.
It’s old (and old fashioned) but still updated, very fast, and designed for convenience. It has syntax highlighting.
VS Code has long since replaced it for me, but if I were looking for something faster to go with VS Code in Windows, I’d put it on the list.
Feels like a one-man show/passion project, which I enjoy.
Many commenters: "use Notepad++" :)
It is not an IDE. I would not write anything on it for coding purposes.
But config files, any reasonable sized text file. Notepad++ has you covered.
Don't try to create your own colour scheme or language tho. It is kind of a nightmare.
I usually install Emacs on whatever platform I'm given: Windows, Linux, Mac. It's the only editor that I can use consistently across systems. Usually I copy my .emacs file as well, to get all my preferred mappings etc.
NPP is a very solid program once you get over a small learning curve. Try following along with a few YouTube videos on NPP before you dismiss it entirely.
Notepad2 feels more like original Notepad beefed up, rather than a completely different application like Notepad++.
There's also lite-xl[3] and CudaText[4], which are not based on Scintilla. Lapce[5] also looks promising, although it's slightly stretching the "light" condition.
For years, AkelPad[6] was considered to be the best substitute for the bundled Notepad, but it hasn't been updated in a while, although it still works absolutely fine in that role.
For the console, Helix[7], Micro[8], Moe[9] are all possible options which will work in cmd.exe out-of-the box.
Regarding vim/nvim - I had some issues with plugin-heavy configs running on top of Cygwin, but YMMV.
0. https://www.geany.org/download/releases
1. https://github.com/orbitalquark/textadept/releases
2. https://github.com/rizonesoft/Notepad3
3. https://github.com/lite-xl/lite-xl/releases
4. https://cudatext.github.io/download.html
5. https://github.com/lapce/lapce/releases
6. https://akelpad.sourceforge.net/en/download.php
7. https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/releases
Vim is actually quite pleasant to use standalone until you reach for a shell and find cmd instead of bash - at which point cygwin/msys/etc. find their usefulness.
I haven't tried Notepad3, but I've used Notepad2 for years and preferred it to Notepad++. Great little editor. Bonus: no installation needed (useful if you don't have admin privileges on the machine).
https://www.flos-freeware.ch/notepad2.html
(Last updated 2012, but don't let that put you off. Solid little editor.)
VS Code on my Mac starts in about 2s, and that's with half a dozen plugins and a couple of language servers. That could be quicker but finding a new editor seems like overkill if it's similar for you. I suspect the startup time could be optimized if you really wanted Moar Speeds.
Plus, it's a bit annoying when I already have a project open as it'll open as a tab and look as if it's part of that project if that makes sense.
There's a setting called "Open Files In New Window" that's defaulted to Off that might solve this.
Also worth mentioning: I for one am using a pretty slow computer, and VS Code is unusable. Like most editors and IDEs. But stuff like sublime, vim, NP++, etc. are a pleasure to use.
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SciTE
EDIT: just noticed you mention syntax highlight. No love there, sorry.
It does struggle with very large files, though.
[0] (better link) https://www.scintilla.org/SciTEDownload.html
SciTE: https://www.scintilla.org/SciTE.html
Kate: https://kate-editor.org/
Geany: https://www.geany.org/
Last one comes from my OS/2 memories, it has been ported to Windows and runs fine also on WINE.
* I use Packer for plug-in managment: https://github.com/wbthomason/packer.nvim
* I use Mason to install LSPs, linters and formatters: https://github.com/williamboman/mason.nvim
* I use nvim-treesitter for better highlighting: https://github.com/nvim-treesitter/nvim-treesitter
Notepad2 - Old, not developed anymore. But is a standalone exe and super fast. - https://www.flos-freeware.ch/notepad2.html
For ornery files (usually 50+ MB XMLs), I've used an editor in WSL (like nano). Is WSL an option for you?
I keep text editor always open (for note taking), so maybe that's why it opens files faster than with a cold start.
It's a cross-platform, open source editor written and configurable in Lua.
It bugs me that every extension I install is by default enabled and I have to disable them per project explicitly.
And I have same pity as op : vscode open is not instant AND it opens the file not in new vscode window, but some unrelated window which I used to open specific folder.
Otherwise VSCode is great.
Edit: Looks like ongoing effort is in progress to tackle extension problem: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues/40239
If you do not like it, there is http://www.pspad.com/en/
Unfortunately I am not sure if it is still in development.
Any discussion about editors on windows is incomplete without https://www.ultraedit.com/
No affiliation with the mentioned products.
- Instant startup.
- Very fast.
- Well-built software.
- Handles everything I throw at it; a lot of which would render other editors unresponsive.
- Great plug-ins.
I've used Sublime Text and have been recommending it to others since the first version. I still recommend it above all other text editors; especially for folks working on a Windows machine.
Features:
- Code folding
- Support for bookmarks
- Option to mark all occurrences of a word
- Word auto-completion
- Syntax highlighting support for AutoHotkey, AutoIt3, AviSynth, Bash, CMake, Inno Setup, LaTeX, Lua, Markdown, NSIS, Ruby, Tcl and YAML scripts
- Improved support for NFO ANSI art
- Support for replacing Windows Notepad using a clean, unintrusive registry-based method
- Other various minor changes and tweaks
Bonus feature for myself: I can install it on any Windows computer and most non-tech users will not know the difference, but when I have to help them solve system problems, I get all those features!!
https://www.flos-freeware.ch/notepad2.html
https://www.reddit.com/r/software/comments/nxpmis/notepad3_v...
There is Notepad2 (or rather Notepad2-mod). It supports syntax highlighting, it's based on Scintilla. Has most of the basic features needed for code editing, except perhaps for rectangular select, which is not often needed in routine code editing. It's very much a standalone exe with a config file, no plugins.
You can also make your own pretty easily using lazarus/fpc and the free synedit component.
If you prefer GUI, I think Notepad++[4] is the best editor you can get, but there is also Sublime[5] (like already mentioned), Visual Studio Code[6]. Some people like jEdit[7], but that's not my personal favourite.
[1]: https://www.vim.org/download.php
[2]: https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/releases
[3]: https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/
[4]: https://notepad-plus-plus.org/downloads/
[5]: https://www.sublimetext.com/
data:text/html, <html contenteditable>
If you are doing html and occasionally for other purposes foxe html editor is highly underrated. http://www.firstobject.com/dn_editor.htm
Maybe N++ has all these features, I use it too but haven't learned how to diff or do rectangular selection/editing.
Fast. Simple. Can also be a hex editor. Can open multi-GB files with no issues.
Seems pretty fast, and has some plugins that might also add additional functionality. seems great for the occasional file edit without the vscode startup times.
- VSCode: JavaScript/Python dev - Notepad++: Fast copy/paste, JSON formatting, document viewing, or converting from a rich-text format to plain text for pasting in a web comment. Because it also saves tabs, it's helpful for temporary sticky note type text. I rarely ever code here. - textEdit: On Mac because it's easier to type here and then paste into HN comment. - Visual Studio: C# development
You can get it easily via gitbash (https://gitforwindows.org), or WSL, or cygwin or ... dunno.
You can also try compiling it for windows directly. Nano provides some Win32-specific stuff on its website (https://www.nano-editor.org/dist/win32-support/), but I haven't tried them, since nano through gitbash worked fine whenever I've needed it.
Bonus: opens 16.84 GiB files and processes billiards of lines in a matter of seconds
Used it alot at uni, it's notepad with tabs and syntax highlighting.
Ticks all boxes: Small, Fast & Light.
There was some version where they absolutely neutered it (I think it was Gedit3) and I haven't looked at it since but maybe they've re-added the lost functionality (though I doubt it.)
Edit: That points to the handmade network, where I first heard of 4Coder. The actual site is [1].
Although its text manipulation could be better, it doesn't have multiple cursors for example.
Vim because it’s already on almost every Linux ditro, and if it’s not, it’s extremely easy to install.
And Sublime if I have a GUI and really need to write out a long script that’ll take me longer than a week.
It looks great with an interesting UI and a powerful use of terminal.
$ code --no-extensions --no-lang-server
And then alias that command to `litecode` or something
Atom if you need something free.
Brackets for HTML/CSS (also free).
TextPad - https://textpad.com
Very fast, lightweight. Been using for 15+ years
