How can you make All types (*.*) the default, when saving

[Tom Cavender]

@PeterJones Respectfully, if there was simply an option to choose “no extension” or “. All file types” in settings, this would be much, much less frustrating.

I understand that some, maybe even a majority may want “*.txt” as their default, but it should be far simpler for those of us who want no extension as their default. In any case, thanks for listening.

[Alan Kilborn]

@Tom-Cavender

Version 7.9.1 has:

Maybe that helps?

[PeterJones]

@Tom-Cavender

Respectfully, I called them workarounds, which implicitly acknowledges it might not be the best way to implement it, but it was the only way available at the time.

The good news is that someone did follow my advice, and put in the feature request; moreover, that feature has been implemented, and the version with it implemented has been released: v7.9.1. If you want that feature, install the new version.

[Tom Cavender]

@Alan-Kilborn That helped immensely. Thank you thank you thank you thank you!!!

[Alan Kilborn]

@Tom-Cavender

Well, I didn’t do the work to make it happen, just pointed it out!
That part was very easy.
Praise to the developers, who do the hard parts!
:-)

[Marcel Abele]

Thanks to the developers about this additional tick-box.
Much appreciated.

[xenadmin]

I deployed 7.9.1 to our users yesterday, but they are still unhappy, as the new checkbox only returns the old behavior partly.
Without the checkbox enabled, and new file you “Save as” and an edited file you “save as” suggests you to save as .txt.
With the old notepad++ versions it was for new and edited files .
Now with the checkbox it is . for new files, but not for opened files.

Example:
We explicitly have the problem, that our users have to edit .STA files (which are just text files with STA as a file ending).
So they open them via right click context menu, edit them and click “save as” and regardless that it’s a STA file, notepad++ 7.9.1 with the new checkbox enabled, always wants to save that file as .txt.
That is a huge problem.

[Peters Vecrumba]

I didn’t need any of the latest features or fixes so I solved the problem today by overwriting my Notepad++ installation with version 7.8.1. Unfortunately, that does mean that I can’t install any version updates.

What put it over the edge for me was not only the inconvenience of having to scroll up to and pick All file types, but that any time I had a non-.TXT extension (i.e., every file I ever edit!), when I went to “Save as” in another location, or, say as the next file in a sequence (i.e., just change number in file name), it would automatically add the .TXT extension even though A FILE EXTENSION WAS ALREADY PRESENT–and Notepad++ should have been smart enough to understand that. Nor can I begin to count up how many times I accidentally saved PHP source files as something.php.txt and then wondered why something didn’t work.

After a month of tearing my hair out, I gave up and rolled back. Good luck, all, and stay safe in the pandemic! /Peters

[bReathl3sS]

fyi - just found out that this is already being handled:
https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/pull/9328
Thanks to sasumner

[Hillarie Furman]

@Alan-Kilborn
Apologies for the necropost. I loved when 7.9.1 provided this option in MISC. However, I have been given a new PC running 8.4.2 and the option is gone. Why on earth was it removed? I don’t have a way to regress versions or make registry edits.

[PeterJones]

@Hillarie-Furman ,

Because it was moved, not removed.

This is thoroughly documented in the Online User Manual:

https://npp-user-manual.org/docs/preferences/#preference-toggles-in-other-dialogs

• When saving a new file or otherwise running the Save As dialog, there is an ☐ Append extension checkbox. If checked, Notepad++ will automatically append the first extension listed in the selected Save as type; otherwise, the extension must be manually included in the File name field. (This toggle is new to v8.0.0, and replaces the Preferences > MISC > ☐ Set Save dialog file extension filter to *.* or Set Save dialog file extension filter to .* for Normal Text preferences for setting the save dialog file extension to *.* that were present in prior v7.9.1-v7.9.5; in v7.9.1, that *.* option replaced the setting in the Default Directory section called Use new style dialog which influenced how extensions were added or not as it toggled the Save As dialog from an ancient Windows Save-As dialog to a somewhat more modern dialog.)

[grk88]

Am in 8.4.4 version, even though i select ☐ Append extension checkbox , the all file type is saving as .txt file default, if i un select the text box while saving also it does the same. quite annoying. is there anyway i force NP++ to follow the type i select while saving as.

[Alan Kilborn]

@grk88 said in How can you make All types (*.*) the default, when saving:

Am in 8.4.4 version, even though i select ☐ Append extension checkbox , the all file type is saving as .txt file default,
if i un select the text box while saving also it does the same. quite annoying.

Presume (in your first part) you mean you tick the box…

By default with a “new” file, N++ will show this:

If you then untick the box, this will happen:

Note that the Save as type changed, but the .txt remains after new 1. It is easy enough to delete off the .txt, but you can also press Esc to abandon the save, then restart the save process, to see:

Saving now will result in a new 1 file on disk (no .txt extension), and all future saves of new text files will have the same type of prompt (no extension applied).

is there anyway i force NP++ to follow the type i select while saving as.

Not sure what this part means, as Notepad++ will do this already (that’s why I think I am misunderstanding this part of your question).

[grk88]

@Alan-Kilborn Thanks for your Response, i have re-installed NP++ and followed this and it works. Cheers.