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    How to make Notepad++ default for Windows 10?

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    • Pericles ChristofilopoulosP
      Pericles Christofilopoulos
      last edited by

      I would like to know how to make Notepad++ the default program for Windows 10. Thank you in advance!

      PeterJonesP 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • PeterJonesP
        PeterJones @Pericles Christofilopoulos
        last edited by

        @Pericles-Christofilopoulos ,

        I would like to know how to make Notepad++ the default program for Windows 10

        I hope you don’t mean “make Notepad++ the default program for all file types in Windows 10” – I would hate to have .bat automatically edit instead of running, or .xlsx files open up as gibberish in Notepad++ instead of opening in my spreadsheet program, or …

        If you mean “make Notepad++ the default program for a given file type in Windows 10”, that seems a much more reasonable request. There are multiple ways to try, depending on how you like doing things, and whether Windows 10 is feeling in a cooperative mood.

        • In Windows Explorer, right click, and **Open With…*, setting it as the default for that extension. This will often work, except when it doesn’t. (Sometimes, conflicting background Windows settings will mean it won’t find Notepad++ , even if you navigate right to notepad++.exe; and sometimes, Windows refuses to save that)
        • Open Notepad++ as Administrator, then Settings > Preferences > File Association, and use the -> button to register Notepad++ with the selected file extension(s)
        • Use the registry
        • There are some who like to trick Windows into running Notepad++ anytime that windows would try to run notepad.exe – enough that there’s a section in the usermanual about it … but using the registry to trick Windows into thinking it’s launching a different program seems a foolish thing to do (and seems to me a feature that could be abused by hackers), when you can use the registry to teach Windows to do the right thing

        Personally, plaintext files are the only file type I associate with Notepad++; everything else, I use the Windows RightClick > Edit with Notepad++ entry that you can get when you install Notepad++ (or can manually install).

        Here are some other posts on similar queries I have participated in; these other topics might help you with problems you run into while fighting the quagmire that is Windows 10 File Association:

        • https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/62576
        • https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/62091
        • https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/61540
        • https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/56688
        • https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/54317
        • https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/52315
        • https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/50774

        That’s about a year’s worth. Probably far enough back in my search.

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