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

The stock Notepad application that comes inbuilt in Windows OS is a lightweight app. There is not much scope of customizing or organizing your write-ups. This is normally about the coders who write codes on a notepad. Today there are more options like Sublime Text and Notepad++ that offer a better interface and more features if we compare them with classic Notepad app. So, in this guide, I will show you how to replace Notepad with Notepad++ or such similar applications.

I sometimes do coding in my free time. I always prefer Sublime Text although I also have Notepad++ installed on my PC. They are far better than the inbuilt Notepad application. To replace the Notepad you can change the file association or you can tweak the Registry as well. I have discussed both methods.

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Replace Notepad With Notepad++ or Other Text Editor

First, let’s check out the file association change method.

Open All .txt Files through Notepad++

This one is the easiest way to replace the Notepad with 3rd party Note apps. Before doing the steps below makes sure to install the 3rd party Notepad app such as Notepad++ or Sublime Text on your PC.

• Launch the classic Notepad
• Create some content
• save the file. This file and such similar files with .txt extension opens on classic Notepad
• We will change this and set the Notepad++ to be the default app to open the txt files
• Right-click on the file you just created > click Properties
  
• Click on Change
  
  
• In the next dialog box, it says How do you want to open the .txt files from now on
  
• If Notepad ++ app is not showing then click on More Apps
• Now more apps will show up on that list. Scroll till you see Notepad++
• Highlight Notepad++ and click OK.
  
• Now you can see in the Properties tab Opens With has changed to Notepad++
  
• To confirm the changes click Apply

Replace Notepad By Tweaking the Registry Value

Now, let’s discuss the second method that involves modifying the registry value.

• Open the command prompt by typing cmd in the search box > click Open
• Then write this following code fragment

  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
  

• The above command uses %ProgramFiles(x86)% because the modification is happening on a 64-bit PC.
• Close the command prompt. That’s it done.

If you want to reverse this change we did above, that is also possible. You have to execute the following command on the command prompt.

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

So, these are the two working ways by which you can replace classic Notepad application with Sublime Text or Notepad++ on your Windows PC. I hope that this guide was helpful to you.

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