The contents of your “That said” paragraph were nearly identical to the quoted text from 2015. And those claims haven’t been true for years, because when Notepad++ v8.0 came out in 2021, the whole GUI – not just the editor panels – were given the ability to Dark Theme

Your post sounds like something that would be said if you posted the original 2015 post as a prompt into an older generative AI and asked it to reply to that post.

Just so you know, posts created by generative AI are not allowed in this forum – it’s a Community of Users of Notepad++, and, by definition, generative AI are not users of Notepad++. Any further posts like this, and you will be banned.

The Sep 2024 revival post sounded like generative drivel (and, like yours, rephrased the original 2015 complaint); your post was slightly better generative drivel (it at least wrapped it in mindless wrapper paragraphs), but it was still junk.

Getting posts every few years that try to “reply to” or “reword” the original, outdated post add nothing to the forum. Since this Topic has become a “honeypot” for AI nonsense, and since all the original points from 2015 have been addressed over the last decade of improvements, I am locking the discussion.

Admin update: that individual has been banned for spam posts, in addition to the AI nonsense posts. Sorry for their waste of bandwidth.

I love Notepad++ In terms of functions, it’s hands down the best text/code editor out there. But in terms of UI, it’s still looking like a Windows XP app. It would be great to see Notepad++ with modern UI, nicely integrating with new versions of Windows, dark color scheme for the whole app, not just the text editor area and updated, flat icons.

I’ve been using Notepad++ for years, and honestly, it’s still one of the most powerful and lightweight editors out there. The plugin system, syntax highlighting, and overall speed make it a go-to for anything from quick edits to full coding sessions.

That said, I do feel the UI could really benefit from a refresh. It still feels very much like a Windows XP-era app — the menus, icons, and layout haven’t kept pace with modern design standards. A more polished interface, consistent dark mode throughout the entire app (not just the editor area), and flat, minimalist icons would really elevate the overall experience. Even simple changes like rounded corners, better spacing, or native Windows 11 design elements could make it feel way more modern.

I’ve seen some users experiment with tweaks, themes, and external tools to improve the visual side. If anyone’s looking for those kinds of customizations, I recently compiled a helpful collection of Notepad++ tools and visual enhancements that might be worth checking out.

Still, credit where it’s due — Notepad++ delivers unmatched functionality. With just a UI revamp, it could easily dominate both in power and appearance.

Google is just as bad for this, as are supermarket marketing idiots that think changing where things are placed will make a shopper cover more sales area they want them to see things at, to spur impulse shopping…when in reality, they are alienating their customers and making them buy less out of frustration for not being able to find their favorite items where they their favorite items used to be. It’s human nature to categorize and memorize where things are at, and by doing things like this, they are just losing their customers business.

along with full dark mode for the entire app and updated icons, would make it even better.

Can you give an example of some portion of the app in v8.7 that isn’t full dark mode? I know there were some dialogs and panels that were missing some Darkening in the early 8.x days, but I’d thought everything in the core application had been fully Dark-Moded by v8.7.

However, I admit it’s still likely that Notepad++'s core application might need a few more hooks to allow plugins to also fully embrace Dark Mode, and there are probably a lot of the plugins – which each have a separate developer, and are not under the control of the Notepad++ Developer – which haven’t made use of even the Dark Mode features that Notepad++ currently provides for plugins, so there are many plugins that will make the whole Notepad++ - plus - plugin experience feel not as Dark Modey as vanilla Notepad++ does.

But since you only gave vague assertions, rather than explicit examples, I am assuming that you haven’t actually tried recent Notepad++ versions in Dark Mode. If you haven’t, try v8.7, then come back with specific instances of where it doesn’t meet your Dark Mode expectations.

BTW, you replied to a post from 2015, and that user is long gone, and Notepad++ has come a long way since then – and if I post the same text that you replied to into ChatGPT, it gives me a reply that sounds very much like your post. Let this post serve as a reminder to you that this forum specifically forbids using generative AI for “answering” or otherwise replying to posts.

While Notepad++ is undoubtedly one of the best text/code editors in terms of functionality, it’s true that its UI feels outdated compared to modern design standards. A more contemporary interface, along with full dark mode for the entire app and updated icons, would make it even better. An upgrade in UI would offer a smoother integration with newer Windows versions, making it not only powerful but also visually appealing. The community has been voicing these suggestions, so hopefully, we’ll see changes in future updates.

I prefer the look and behavior of Windows NT and Windows XP and am very happy with Notepad++'s old school, obsolete, retro, look.

Implementing dark mode turns out to be painful. There are many, possibly thousands, of details that we take for granted in the overall Windows plus application experience that keep showing up as bugs or issues as dark mode support gets added and improved.

I love Notepad++ In terms of functions, it’s hands down the best text/code editor out there. But in terms of UI, it’s still looking like a Windows XP app. It would be great to see Notepad++ with modern UI, nicely integrating with new versions of Windows, dark color scheme for the whole app, not just the text editor area and updated, flat icons.

While Notepad++ is undoubtedly one of the best text/code editors in terms of functionality, it’s true that its UI feels outdated compared to modern design standards. A more contemporary interface, along with full dark mode for the entire app and updated icons, would make it even better. An upgrade in UI would offer a smoother integration with newer Windows versions, making it not only powerful but also visually appealing. The community has been voicing these suggestions, so hopefully, we’ll see changes in future updates.

and for devs to get some idea for what to do.

Perhaps the devs already know where they want to focus their efforts for their product, and don’t need big thinkers. Probably what would help is big doers.

but I have other more important things to do as of now.

Well, good thing you could stop by for a few minutes to lay out some future design work for Notepad++.

This post is made in jest, but there is some truth in it as well.

I guess you’d better get working on it.
The project accepts pull-requests.
Good luck; I await the fruits of your labors.

I have drawn a quick mockup of how that could look.

All of that would of course be options. I would never even consider forcing people to use one style or look over the other. its user choice to go for what suits them best. https://imgur.com/a/IUeYdZG

The next step after what I’ve drawn would be custom icon themes or a greater choice. LibreOffice for example has built in about 5 themes and a few variations of each and is capable on linux to use the system icon theme.
If themes like Breeze (black & white) or Tango were bundled and selectable through the options, that would be a great plus aswell.

feel free to contribute to this open source project.

Hi Scott,

I actually want to change the UI similar to the dark theme in visual studio with a few tweaks.

Regards,
Pyre909

Are you wanting to change actual code for this??
Why not just use/create/modify a theme ?

Can someone point me towards where I can update the gui? I have been reading through the code for a good while now and know where most things are at, but it’s taking me quite a bit. The goal would be to make it black or white with the windows 10 settings and leave the classic ui as an option via checkbox.

I will be doing this for my own sake, but will share the code on my own github page for if anyone wants it. Should people request it I can also add it to a pull request in the future once I am sure that it will not affect the apps current performance.

Regards!

What you need (and already have) are icons that are cartoony/black-bordered and with bright colors so you can tell them apart at a glance, and toolbars and menus that are gray, so they contrast well with icons’ colors, and which have drawn-out borders, handles, shadows etc, so you can easily tell what is on which toolbar/row.

Meanwhile the fashionable thing is having single-color icons, or bland colors and everything glares and blends together. It’s all probably on a colored toolbar as well because some genius decided gray toolbars are ugly. Or maybe it’s on an eye-searing white background. And so I end up having to lean in every 2 minutes to look, or hover my mouse over every icon to see what’s what. I didn’t even get to the ribbons…

So there’s no new functionality. It’s just making your old editor look cool and hip, and in 5 years time it will be out of date again. It’s not just that UI reinvents itself all the time, it’s that the Win 10 flat style is pretty much the same thing as bad old Windows 3.x. Search the net and see for yourself. In fact, 3.x has strong borders so 10 is actually even worse. So why did they bring it back? To waste the developers’ time, of course.

N++ devs, please don’t waste your time on Win10-type flat interface. Please spend that time making N++ run natively on Linux so I can ditch wine/Windows completely :)

IMHO Linux compatibility is a most important requisite to npp. Many users are migrating to Linux, many of them are missing it.

(Up/downvote this please, wether you agree with me or not)

someone finally managed to change the UI by a totally dark color?

No, unfortunately there seem to be little to no interest in that.
It’s a shame though since NP++ is really great when one have to preserve power since it doesn’t use any resources at all in comparison to other ‘modern’ editors.