Why does Autosave plugin keep disabling autosave at timed intervals?
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Hi
I had occasion to reinstall NP++ 8.8.3 on Win11 and re-enabled the Autosave plugin (v2.00) with the option to save at 1 min timed intervals ticked. But periodically I’ve noticed that files were not being saved and the plugin option shows the timed interval is now unticked!
Autosave.ini is dated 25th July '25, isn’t read-only and says:
[Options]
Timer=10
SaveOnActivateApp=0
SaveOnTimer=0
SaveOnTabChange=0
SaveOnExit=0
SaveCurrentFileOnly=0Shouldn’t timer = 1?
Any ideas why this is? -
I’ve used AutoSave 2.00 for years (and versions before that), and I’ve never seen it un-checkmark that option (or change the time between saves).
I am wondering whether you might have multiple instances of Notepad++ on your computer; if so, maybe AutoSave is only set up the way you want it to be on one of those multiple instances.
When you are running Notepad++ with AutoSave in the wrong settings, look at ?-menu’s Debug Info (and copy it, and maybe paste it into a reply here)
Assuming Debug Info shows something like
Notepad++ v8.8.4 (64-bit) Build time: Aug 4 2025 - 18:01:28 Scintilla/Lexilla included: 5.5.7/5.4.5 Boost Regex included: 1_85 Path: C:\Program Files\Notepad++\notepad++.exe Command Line: "C:\Users\pryrt\AppData\Roaming\Notepad++\plugins\config\AutoSave.ini" Admin mode: OFF Local Conf mode: OFF Cloud Config: OFF Periodic Backup: OFF ... Plugins: AutoSave (2) ...(I stripped out irrelevant stuff, because I have a lot of plugins)
A first thing to look at is the Path:, Admin mode:, and Local Conf mode: entries in the Debug Info. That will tell us a lot.
If I set the options to:
… I then have to exit Notepad++ normally (File > Exit or the upper-rightX), then it writes the updates to%AppData%\Notepad++\Plugins\Config\AutoSave.ini– it doesn’t write the config file when I say OK, it waits until I exit Notepad++. So look at the AutoSave.ini last-changed date while Notepad++ is open. Then change AutoSave>Options…, click OK, then exit Notepad++; refresh the Explorer window and see if theAutoSave.inidate changes to the most recent timestamp. If not, then the settings for AutoSave aren’t where you think you are (and that strengthens the idea that you have multiple copies of Notepad++ floating around).Secondly, I’m wondering if the times when it loses it, you are getting a Notepad++ crash, instead of a normal closing. (Or even using something like
taskkill /f /im notepad++.exewill prevent AutoSave from writing its config to disk, whereastaskkillwithout the/fwill allow it to write the config.)Third, I know you said it’s not “read-only”, but Windows doesn’t just use a singular “read-only” flag: it also has user-based permissions. So maybe it’s not “read-only”, but your normal user doesn’t have write permission. (Or maybe you are running Notepad++ as admin when you make the change, but when you run as your normal user, it finds those settings weren’t saved.) So right click on the
AutoSave.ini, Properties, then go to the Security tab; click thru the users in the list of user names, and see if the Permissions forXYZtable shows that different users have different permissions (especially your normal user compared to the Administrators group).So, to recap, the first things I’d check:
- ? > Debug Info, especially Path, Admin mode, and Local Conf mode.
- Look for multiple copies of Notepad++ on your computer, which would mean the config files are in different locations, so maybe the different copies have different settings
- How is Notepad++ being closed after you change the setting? Do you File > Exit, or click the
Xor just shutdown Windows or use Task Manager to kill the task or use the TASKKILL utility or something else? - Check detailed permissions, not just “read only” flag
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@PeterJones tx those are all very helpful diagnosis steps.
Results:
Win11’s ‘Installed Apps’ says one instance of NPP.
Debug info:
Path : D:\Program Files\Notepad++\notepad++.exe
Admin mode : OFF
Local Conf mode : OFF(For the sake of completeness would it be useful for debug to add the %appdata% path (though I guess it’s a system env. variable)?)
Mode LastWriteTime Length Name ---- ------------- ------ ---- -a---- 25/07/2025 11:42 113 AutoSave.iniFile > exit NPP
Mode LastWriteTime Length Name ---- ------------- ------ ---- -a---- 14/08/2025 15:22 113 AutoSave.iniI normally shut down or restart Windows, and never do a NPP File > Exit.
I’ve restarted the PC several times since 25th July!
The irony is not lost on me that it appears that the Autosave plug-in options are not (ahem) autosaved! ;-)Detailed Autosave.ini Security perms shows that my user has all permissions allowed.
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@Mr-Brunes said in Why does Autosave plugin keep disabling autosave at timed intervals?:
I normally shut down or restart Windows, and never do a NPP File > Exit.
So if the Windows OS shutdown/restart prevents Notepad++ from sending the “shut down gracefully” signal to plugins, then the AutoSave plugin might never have a chance to write its config file to disk
14/08/2025 15:22The good news is, your new options have now been saved. In theory, they shouldn’t disappear again. My recommendation to you is that, since you normally don’t do File > Exit, you should do that after changing any AutoSave plugin settings (or other plugin settings, too, because I cannot guarantee which of your plugins might write settings immediately vs writing on safe-exit)
The irony is not lost on me that it appears that the Autosave plug-in options are not (ahem) autosaved! ;-)
You have a point. It would make sense for it to save the options as soon as you hit OK. I am creating an Issue with the AutoSave repo => Issue #70 … I don’t know whether the author will ever address that problem, but at least they’ve been informed.
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@PeterJones that’s great. I wonder if it’s a Win11 ‘feature’ that prevents the graceful app close/shutdown.
Either way I know now what the smoking gun looks like so will be mindful of that in future.
Tx for the analysis and for filing the plugin issue.
