@Ivo-Krab said in Support for Plugins Admin & NppPluginList:
but modifying the C:\Program Files\Notepad++\plugins is understandably blocked without admin access.
Would it not be possible to allow (as a config choice) to install them in %APPDATA%\Notepad++ instead
The problem is that plugins in Notepad++ can do anything Notepad++ itself could do. They are C++ programs operating in the same security context as Notepad++ itself. From a security standpoint, allowing plugins in a directory that can be modified without admin access would be equivalent to allowing access to Program Files without admin access.
As I recall, that was allowed at one time, and this is why it was removed. Security-sensitive organizations determined that they could not install Notepad++ at all unless they could stop users from installing their own plugins. The developer decided it was better to remove the capacity entirely than to try to implement a switch of some kind.
The work-around, if you can run programs that are not installed in Program Files, is to use a portable copy of Notepad++. If you are not allowed to do that, then logically you would be forbidden to run Notepad++ plugins in a directory you control, since it would grant you exactly the same access.