Make indentation and cursor position like other tsxt editors

Gordon Gordonplex

There are so many settings (both Preferences and Style Configurator) that I can’t figure out which one might help, but the default indentation and the cursor positioning isn’t like that of any other program I write in, including Notepad, WordPad, EditPad, Forte Agent, Thunderbird, Eudora.
The insertion point/cursor or ends up at the start of the line or somewhere else I don’t expect, and
It often indents 5 or 10 spaces when I didn’t tell it too, and it’s hard to get the text back to the left margin.
I think it thinks I’m writing Fortran or something.
Do you recognize either of these problems and know what setting should be changed and what it should be set to to fix it? Thanks in advance.

ebug info
Notepad++ v8.5.4 (64-bit) & same question with prior versions
Build time : Jun 17 2023 - 20:42:45
Path : C:\Programs\NotepadPP\notepad++.exe
Command Line :
Admin mode : OFF
Local Conf mode : ON
Cloud Config : OFF
OS Name : Windows 10 Home (64-bit) & same problem in Pro
OS Version : 22H2
OS Build : 19045.3570
Current ANSI codepage : 1252
Plugins :
mimeTools (2.9)
NppConverter (4.5)
NppExport (0.4)

PeterJones

@Gordon-Gordonplex said in Make indentation and cursor position like other tsxt editors:

know what setting should be changed and what it should be set to to fix it

It’s not a problem, it’s a feature. Just a feature that doesn’t currently help you. Which is why “there are so many settings”

The Settings > Preferences > Auto-Completion > ☑ Auto-Indent checkbox controls this. It defaults on, and it sounds like you want it off.

There are so many settings (both Preferences and Style Configurator) that I can’t figure out which one might help

Did you try going to the preferences page in the User Manual and search for the word indent? There are exactly 9 matches right now, one third of which are talking about the setting you need. It would have taken less than 5 minutes of your time to follow the ?-menu’s Notepad++ Online User Manual link, then see that there’s a page on preferences, then search for indent and read the three sections that show up – and you would have had your answer in the second of those three sections.

I think it thinks I’m writing Fortran or something.

Does it say “Fortran” or similar on the lower-left of your Status Bar?

Or if your Status Bar is hidden, or too narrow to show the language name, what does the Language menu indicate?
Or did you just say “Fortran” because you assumed it must be treating it as some sort of programming language, and “Fortran” is the first that came to your mind. (BTW: congratulations if “Fortran” is the first programming language that comes to your mind; most people would have said “Python” or some plebian “modern” language, not something as noble as “Fortran”. :-) )

If your text files have non .txt extensions, it might be an extension that Notepad++ associates with another language. If that’s the case, let us know, and we can explain how to get that extension to automatically be Normal Text instead of Fortran (or whatever it actually is).