Notepad++ does not remember last used directory
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I posted this question about 5 years ago in old forums, this problem still exists years later, Notepad++ always starts with c/programfiles/notepad++ directory, when you click OPEN to open a file it always opens from there after restarting Notepad++
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yes, you are absolutely correct.
the default
file > open...behaviour is as follows:-
if no file is loaded, and you just see a “new 1” tab, the path will be set to the folder where your notepad++.exe resides in, as this “new 1” tab does not have any save location yet.
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if one or more saved files are already opened, the default “open” path will be set to the document path of the active tab.
as a workaround, you can enable sessions, so notepad++ will remember your previously opened files, and keep one or more documents, which reside at your favourite location(s) as opened tabs.
once you click on those tabs, and then click on “open” at the file menu or the tollbar icon, the “open” dialogue will present you with the same path as your “template” tab.
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This bug needs to be fixed.
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it is less a bug than a design feature.
i personally like this feature. notepad++ does not present you with the last open file location, but if you click on another opened tab, which might be part of a project, and then click on open, it will automatically suggest the same folder of the active tab, which is much faster when switching between projects, than having the last opened file location as default, and then having to browse again to the folder you currently need.
we, at the community, can only help you, by trying to teach how notepad++ is intended to be used.
if you still would like to report this as a bug, please read and try to understand our community’s official guide on how to do that, by following this link:
>>> FAQ Desk: Feature Request or Bug Report <<< -
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I have found this behavior annoying for years. Agree it’s not a bug but…
- I cannot think of any other text editor in the world that ever offers you the program files directory as a default save location for a new file (under any circumstance)
- I cannot imagine that very many people would ever wish to save their files in the program files folder
- It’s basically somewhat jarring to see these files when you click save because it is not the normal behavior when you click save - and by not the normal behavior I mean there is no other program that does this, ever.
- It seems that for users who remember the current session there is no issue (so maybe the majority of users never see this kind of behavior). But for users who start with a blank session it is a strange and recurring event all of the time. I put a shortcut in my program files folder for notepad++ to take more to a more reasonable starting point! And I can assure you that this is the only Windows program I have ever in my life had to do this for.
So its basically a jarring and unexpected event to see program files when you hit save. This has bothered me for years also. It would be better to have a default save location for new files (such as the users documents folder, or the users home folders).
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@shagnocky said in Notepad++ does not remember last used directory:
But for users who start with a blank session it is a strange and
I just mimic’d this setup. Yes, the default is to open the folder where Notepad++.exe lives. Agreed: This is not very useful.
But…why not just set a Default Directory in the Preferences ? I just did this and it works fine for the “sessionless” way of working.
To be explicit: Go to Settings (menu), choose Preferences, select Default Directory in the box on the left, and in the box on the right pick the THIRD radio button down and put in your desired directory right next to it. Easy…unless I miss something?
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@Alan-Kilborn Belated reply but yes the above suggestions works for setting a default directory. Thanks! I don’t know why I hadn’t figured that out - perhaps I tried the other options first and just gave up too soon.
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I need to refresh this thread because it’s important.
All was good up until the latest update to v7.9.5
Now despite setting the default open/save file directory to remember last used directory, when I go to open a new or existing file, even with a file in the current project directory open, the open directory tries to open in Program Files > Notepad++
What? Why??
The once fixed old irritation is back!
What happened?
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@ArkadiuszMichalski Thank you - good to know and I’m glad to see this will be fixed!
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It makes me wonder if the programmers have that much experience. As a professional Windows programmer, I know that you are not allowed to save data files to the system folders, so why they have the Program Files folder as a default is anybodies guess. They should do what almost all other software does, and that is make the current user’s documents folder the default.
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@Randall-Spychalla said in Notepad++ does not remember last used directory:
It makes me wonder if the programmers have that much experience. As a professional Windows programmer…
So the primary developer of Notepad++ has been programming on it basically non-stop since, what 2003 or so? Does 18 years equate to “not much experience”?
I know that if I were a “Windows programmer” for that long, I’d probably be discouraged (Windows programming mostly sucks, IMO, and that means comparatively to programming for other OSes).
Anyway, probably that long ago, the concept of a user folder was in its infancy. And…it is a non-issue, because the default setting for Notepad++ is to follow the last used folder, despite the other postings in this thread.
So again, I repeat: Non-issue, nothing’s wrong.
