Issues with the Preview HTML plugin

[rdipardo]

[T]his morning I woke up to my html previewer not working at all! Just a blank screen.

Sounds like an earlier reported issue.

In addition to my suggestions in that thread, make sure the plugin version is 1.4.4, then open the About dialog to see what browser version is detected:

Are there any logs or debugging for plugins?

Logging is only active when the plugin is built in debug mode. I don’t distribute debug DLLs because the additional instrumentation code usually gets flagged by virus scanners.

[Robk Blue]

@rdipardo said:

@robk-blue, @lachlanmax

In fact, internal anchors are navigable if the preview is being rendered by the WebView2 embedded browser — the default in current plugin versions, provided that Edge is installed on the PC and the NoEdge user option is not enabled.

Additional questions/concerns can be posted here.

I’m having trouble installing the 1.44 version you linked. It has no .dll file that Windows would use. What am I missing?

[rdipardo]

@Robk-Blue said:

I’m having trouble installing the 1.44 version you linked.

If your version of Notepad++ is at least 8.9.4, you can use the built-in Plugins Admin installer:

It has no .dll file that Windows would use.

If you’re talking about a ZIP archive you got from the plugin’s GitHub page, my guess is that some anti-virus program is putting the DLL in quarantine as soon as you extract it, or else the extracted DLL needs to be cleared of a Web origin designator:

[Robk Blue]

@rdipardo
My Notepad++ says it’s up to date at 8.9.3 and the Preview HTML plugin shows 1.4.3 as its version in Plugins Admin!

And there’s part of the problem, your earlier link to ‘current plugin versions’ is different to the one just above (GitHub page) which has the DLL file. Sweet !

Screenshot - 17_05_2026 , 12_41_07 PM.png

OK, I downloaded it and manually installed 1.4.4. It’s working for the moment.

Thanks a bunch.

[PeterJones]

@Robk-Blue said:

My Notepad++ says it’s up to date at 8.9.3

Notepad++ has actually released two versions since v8.9.3, they just haven’t been triggered for auto-update, so the Check For Updates won’t show them.

See FAQ: Why Can’t I Just Say “Most Recent Version”

[Robk Blue]

@PeterJones OK, I didn’t know that.

.8.9.4 and .5 both broke my PreviewHTML plugin, installing back to 8,9,3 fixed it. So, there you go.

[Robk Blue]

Hi All,

I’m not sure what’s happening, but every morning when I open NP++ for the first time, PreviewHTML isn’t working. I tried reinstalling the plugin again, no fix.

Any suggestions?

[rdipardo]

@Robk-Blue said:

Any suggestions?

Usually the Notepad++ Debug Info dialog is the best place to start:

Click Copy debug info to clipboard and share the details in a new post.

Some plugin-specific things include:

• Is Microsoft Edge installed?

Launch PowerShell or the Command Prompt and enter:

reg query "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\EdgeUpdate\Clients\{F3017226-FE2A-4295-8BDF-00C3A9A7E4C5}" /v Location

Or simply launch File Explorer and try to locate this folder: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\EdgeWebView\Application

• Is your config.xml file trying to relaunch the preview panel automatically when Notepad++ starts up?

Go here for instructions on how to find out.

If you have a GitHub account, please consider posting your findings to the issue tracker I mentioned before.

[Robk Blue]

@rdipardo said:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\EdgeWebView\Application

Yes, Edge is installed and tested via your suggested queries.

What config.xml file are referring to?

[rdipardo]

@Robk-Blue said:

What config.xml file are referring to?

At the link I provided in my last message you will find the following:

• [To l]ocate your config.xml file:

  • %AppData%\Notepad++\config.xml, if you installed Notepad++ for all users; or

  • $(PORTABLE_NPP_DIR)\config.xml, if it’s a portable installation

• Find and remove the PluginDlg element with the attribute pluginName="PreviewHTML.dll", for example:

<!-- config.xml -->

    <GUIConfig name="DockingManager" leftWidth="200" rightWidth="168" topHeight="200" bottomHeight="124">
        <FloatingWindow cont="4" x="257" y="440" width="916" height="686" />
        <FloatingWindow cont="5" x="161" y="206" width="761" height="606" />
    <!-- 
      Remove:
        <PluginDlg pluginName="PreviewHTML.dll" id="0" curr="1" prev="-1" isVisible="yes" />
    -->
        <PluginDlg pluginName="Notepad++::InternalFunction" id="44085" curr="1" prev="-1" isVisible="no" />
    </GUIConfig>

Yes, Edge is installed

O.K. What about the Notepad++ debug info?