Session Fails ? ? ?

Kendall DeMott

I’m not sure why but Notepad ++ fails a lot more than it used to, I open it and all the tabs I left open will be gone. To fix this issue I just backed up the session file, whenever it failed to open properly, I just copy the BU of my session file into its Dir.
I have been busy with other things and out of town for almost a month. Opened it yesterday and all my usual tabs were gone (5 of them).
I pasted my BU session file in, overwriting it, opened Notepad ++ and nothing, it did not work, and I’ve done this a hundred times now. I open the session file and there were all the tabs listed, but the tabs and their contents are nowhere to be seen in Notepad ++.

Terry R

@Kendall-DeMott

How about copying and pasting the version of your Notepad++ installation. It’s available under the ? menu, called Debug Info.

Also check your “Backup” preferences. Do you have remember current session for next launch, and possibly enable session snapshot and periodic backup? The backup path is also important.

Lots of users have issues with the session function and the periodic backup, most of it due to not understanding what they have (or have not) set in the preferences and what the settings actually do for you.

There is a FAQ post called “Periodic Backup vs AutoSave Plugin”. Have a read of that as it does contain relevant information which might help you.

Terry

Kendall DeMott

@Terry-R
v8.8.5 64 bit

Build Aug. 14

Other than the color, I run with whatever the default settings are, like I said the session file I have saved as my BU has always worked, last time I used it was about (6) weeks ago.

No, I have not read the Periodic Backup vs AutoSave Plugin, my BU if my session file has always worked.

The weird thing is I have the text for each tab stored as a separate xml file, and they set in a folder that I rarely visit. This was how I was originally going to solve my dilemma, by opening new tabs and just copy the data back in. But when I went to the folder, all the xml files were gone. In the last couple of months Notepad++ has pulled some weird stuff, all my systems xml files are associated with Notepad++

Terry R

@Kendall-DeMott

You need to copy and paste that debug info. It has lots of information which may be helpful. Don’t just post some parts.

Terry

Kendall DeMott

@Terry-R
Just where is this debug info located or generate?

Terry R

@Kendall-DeMott
I told you this above in a previous post.
It’s available under the ? menu, called Debug Info

Terry

guy038

Hello, @terry-r and All,

I’m wondering :

Why don’t we rename the ? menu as the Help menu ?

It could help people when asked about the debug Info... option. We would say : run the Help > Debug Info... option.

I verified that the letter H ( from Help ) can be used when hitting the Alt key !

Just a suggestion !

Best Regards

guy038

Alan Kilborn

@guy038 said:

Why don’t we rename the ? menu as the Help menu ?

This has been suggested before…so long ago that I can’t find any reference to it.
Even my aging and failing memory can remember it (because it made sense at the time and still makes sense now).
BUT… Don said “no way” to changing it.

Kendall DeMott

@Terry-R
As requested. I’m kind of really bummed about this I gathered data (Code lines that used a lot) over an amount of time, now I lost it all. I have only been able to rebuild from my own memory and some docs about a 1/3 of a couple of the tabs containing larger amounts of text. I rather doubt my store back of session file is bad. Is a version issue where Notepad++ updated and can not make use of the older BU file, if that the case could I just install an older version of Notepad++ ?
*** The BU of my session file was created on 10-1-23.

Notepad++ v8.8.5 (64-bit)
Build time: Aug 14 2025 - 00:32:39
Scintilla/Lexilla included: 5.5.7/5.4.5
Boost Regex included: 1_85
Path: C:\Program Files\Notepad++\notepad++.exe
Command Line: “I:\FS25_Mods\Crop growth times.txt”
Admin mode: OFF
Local Conf mode: OFF
Cloud Config: OFF
Periodic Backup: ON
Placeholders: OFF
Scintilla Rendering Mode: SC_TECHNOLOGY_DEFAULT (0)
Multi-instance Mode: monoInst
asNotepad: OFF
File Status Auto-Detection: cdEnabledNew (for current file/tab only)
Dark Mode: ON
Display Info:
primary monitor: 3840x2160, scaling 150%
visible monitors count: 1
installed Display Class adapters:
0000: Description - AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT
0000: DriverVersion - 32.0.21025.1024
0001: Description - AMD Radeon™ Graphics
0001: DriverVersion - 32.0.21025.1024
OS Name: Windows 11 Pro (64-bit)
OS Version: 24H2
OS Build: 26100.6584
Current ANSI codepage: 1252
Plugins:
mimeTools (3.1)
NppConverter (4.6)
NppExport (0.4)

Terry R

@Kendall-DeMott

So there haven’t been any posts from any members about your issue. I had suspected that might happen.

From my perspective, the information you have provided thus far has not alluded to anything being wrong, in at least a Notepad++ issue. I believe the issue is in how you are trying to keep copies of your critical data. Actually to say copies of your data seems wrong as it seems you are completely relying on the built-in backup system that Notepad++ provides. You never mention actually saving the data as “real” files, instead letting Notepad++ use the “session” backup system to keep them available.

This forum is littered with people, like yourself, who for one reason or another, rely on this backup system without fully understanding that in any application you do need to save the data yourself.

I noted that in your debug info you have a line that specifies an I: drive mapping. That suggests you are on a network and if you had your missing data in the same location, would there not be a network backup of the files?

Regardless of the location of the missing files, I would definitely recommend you to read the FAQ post I mentioned earlier. It does have some good ideas on how you should maintain a backup system and I’d recommend taking on board at least some of those ideas.

I’m sorry I don’t have a magic wand to recover your missing data. All I can say is that you should seriously consider changing how you approach the “saving” of data otherwise you will likely suffer the same loss in the future.

Terry

Kendall DeMott

@Terry-R
Terry TY for your help and suggestions.

I don’t know anything about Notepad++'s own backup system, or than to say when my session did not load correctly, Notepad++ never asked or referred to a BU file. PS, when I looked in Notepad++'s backup folder, all there is is just file that load a single tab from mods that I edited, but none of the file were the (5) that I use all the time, funny how it backed up all these single files, but not one of them is one of the five tabs that I would open on almost a daily basis.
I was keeping (backing up) the session file from Notepad++ install Dir, this has never failed in the past.
the I-drive is not net work, its a USB drive connected to the back IO

This is the session file, you can clearly see the (5) lines are there, they just not longer load from this file when the default session file from Notepad++'s install Dir is overwritten by my BU file copied from the install Dir:

<Session activeView="0">
    <mainView activeIndex="4">
        <File firstVisibleLine="0" xOffset="0" scrollWidth="621" startPos="0" endPos="0" selMode="0" offset="0" wrapCount="1" lang="XML" encoding="-1" userReadOnly="no" filename="I:\FS22\_Mods\brandColors 22.xml" backupFilePath="" originalFileLastModifTimestamp="811610126" originalFileLastModifTimestampHigh="31053619" tabColourId="-1" mapFirstVisibleDisplayLine="-1" mapFirstVisibleDocLine="-1" mapLastVisibleDocLine="-1" mapNbLine="-1" mapHigherPos="-1" mapWidth="-1" mapHeight="-1" mapKByteInDoc="512" mapWrapIndentMode="-1" mapIsWrap="no" />
        <File firstVisibleLine="0" xOffset="0" scrollWidth="1224" startPos="0" endPos="0" selMode="0" offset="0" wrapCount="1" lang="XML" encoding="-1" userReadOnly="no" filename="I:\FS22\_Mods\Vehicle &amp; Trailer syntax.xml" backupFilePath="" originalFileLastModifTimestamp="-1286154777" originalFileLastModifTimestampHigh="31039624" tabColourId="-1" mapFirstVisibleDisplayLine="-1" mapFirstVisibleDocLine="-1" mapLastVisibleDocLine="-1" mapNbLine="-1" mapHigherPos="-1" mapWidth="-1" mapHeight="-1" mapKByteInDoc="512" mapWrapIndentMode="-1" mapIsWrap="no" />
        <File firstVisibleLine="0" xOffset="0" scrollWidth="846" startPos="0" endPos="0" selMode="0" offset="0" wrapCount="1" lang="XML" encoding="-1" userReadOnly="no" filename="I:\FS22\_Mods\Seed types.xml" backupFilePath="" originalFileLastModifTimestamp="-724742142" originalFileLastModifTimestampHigh="30996582" tabColourId="-1" mapFirstVisibleDisplayLine="-1" mapFirstVisibleDocLine="-1" mapLastVisibleDocLine="-1" mapNbLine="-1" mapHigherPos="-1" mapWidth="-1" mapHeight="-1" mapKByteInDoc="512" mapWrapIndentMode="-1" mapIsWrap="no" />
        <File firstVisibleLine="0" xOffset="0" scrollWidth="1413" startPos="0" endPos="0" selMode="0" offset="0" wrapCount="1" lang="XML" encoding="-1" userReadOnly="no" filename="I:\FS22\_Mods\planter - roller.xml" backupFilePath="" originalFileLastModifTimestamp="1221244321" originalFileLastModifTimestampHigh="31048727" tabColourId="-1" mapFirstVisibleDisplayLine="-1" mapFirstVisibleDocLine="-1" mapLastVisibleDocLine="-1" mapNbLine="-1" mapHigherPos="-1" mapWidth="-1" mapHeight="-1" mapKByteInDoc="512" mapWrapIndentMode="-1" mapIsWrap="no" />
        <File firstVisibleLine="0" xOffset="0" scrollWidth="927" startPos="0" endPos="0" selMode="0" offset="0" wrapCount="1" lang="XML" encoding="-1" userReadOnly="no" filename="I:\FS22\_Mods\Implement widths in feet (m).xml" backupFilePath="" originalFileLastModifTimestamp="1712835623" originalFileLastModifTimestampHigh="31061021" tabColourId="-1" mapFirstVisibleDisplayLine="-1" mapFirstVisibleDocLine="-1" mapLastVisibleDocLine="-1" mapNbLine="-1" mapHigherPos="-1" mapWidth="-1" mapHeight="-1" mapKByteInDoc="512" mapWrapIndentMode="-1" mapIsWrap="no" />
    </mainView>
    <subView activeIndex="0" />
</Session>

PeterJones

@Kendall-DeMott said in Session Fails ? ? ?:

@Terry-R
Terry TY for your help and suggestions.

I don’t know anything about Notepad++'s own backup system,

Then read the FAQ, as @Terry-R suggested. Understanding is always better than not understanding.

PS, when I looked in Notepad++'s backup folder, all there is is just file that load a single tab from mods that I edited, but none of the file were the (5) that I use all the time,

That “backup” folder is where Notepad++ keeps the unsaved changes for any files that have unsaved changes. As soon as you save a file, it will delete the backup, because the periodic backup copies are only intended for tracking unsaved changes; once you save a file, it has no unsaved changes, so there is nothing to track. Similarly, if you close a new 1-style never-saved tab, Notepad++ will prompt you to make sure you aren’t about to lose all your changes with never saving it; but it trusts you: once you tell it you don’t want the file, it will accept your decision, and close that file and remove the periodic backup because the periodic backup is only for files that are actively open in Notepad++.

funny how it backed up all these single files, but not one of them is one of the five tabs that I would open on almost a daily basis.

It backs up exactly the ones that are currently being edited in Notepad++, no more and no less.

I was keeping (backing up) the session file from Notepad++ install Dir, this has never failed in the past.

That very much surprises me, since in a normal installation where your settings files (and backup directory) are in AppData (which yours is, as shown by your Debug Info), then the active session.xml file is the one in AppData, not the one in c:\program files\Notepad++\session.xml

This is the session file, you can clearly see the (5) lines are there, they just not longer load from this file when the default session file from Notepad++'s install Dir is overwritten by my BU file copied from the install Dir:

You seem to be saying different things about the session.xml file. When you try to “restore” you session file from the backup, where do you copy it from? Where do you paste the file to? What order do you do things? Because some of your phrasing implies you are backing up your session file into the installation directory, and other of your phrasing implies you are using the one in the installation directory as the backup. And I’m confused what you’re actually doing.

Assuming you have some directory that I will call c:\backup\ which contains c:\backup\session.xml that looks like what you pasted in your reply, then the steps to get back that session would be:

Exit all copies of Notepad++
Copy c:\backup\session.xml to %AppData%\Notepad++\session.xml
Open Notepad++
Assuming those files still exist on the I: drive and the drive is accessible, those files will open at this time

However, any usaved changes that didn’t get saved to the files before will obviously not be there, because whatever went wrong earlier that caused your session to get messed up caused Notepad++ to think it was safe to delete the snapshot from the backup\ folder, so your unsaved changes for those files no longer exist. Going forward, you need to keep in mind that Notepad++'s backup folder is really misnamed and should be called a “snapshot” folder – it’s where a “snapshot” of the unsaved changes are stored, but it’s highly temporary, and should never be relied up for long term backup.

My recommendation, and the recommendation of most of the regulars here, is that you take an active role in backing up your data, and don’t rely on backup settings that you don’t understand. This is the advice I have incorporated in to the FAQ.

If a file or data is critical: 1) save to a known location, often; 2) have an established backup system that is independent of Notepad++; 3) when appropriate, use revision control software like svn or git, so you can better track changes over time. Doing anything less than that says that you don’t actually think the data is critical.