<![CDATA[HELP on Macros - security issue?]]>Hi everyone!
I have a few macros on my npp installation, which always have worked fine - all of them are typing macros.
Today I tried executing one of them and I got a warning on the shortcuts.xml file saying it “should be validated, using the menu”.

In fact if I go to the “Run” menu, I find a new option I had never seen before saying “Validate shortcuts.xml”.

I have done quite a few web search in different engines and also AI, and I could not find any references to this menu entry. I checked the release .log file, no mentions on it either. I am worried this could be some sort of malware.

I checked shortcuts.xml myself and I don’t see any custom comand with this description, which tells me it should be a native command.

I made a new installation over the new one, same warning. I uninstalled, installed again, same warning. Then I remembered I had forced the pc to shut down, which might have corrupted the file, and then I did a manual restore of one of my backups. I had a new security warning,this time because the file was manually updated - but again telling me to run “Validate shortcuts.xml”.

I made a test macro, so that npp would itself read and write the shortcuts file and now all seems to be working. But the menu entry is still there.

But the question remains: Is this “Validate shortcuts.xml” a native option?
f1538470-643d-4275-84f2-c76b9bb7e556-image.jpeg

One can never be to cautious…

Thanks in advance!

]]>https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/topic/27609/help-on-macros-security-issueRSS for NodeTue, 21 Jul 2026 11:28:55 GMTMon, 20 Jul 2026 11:15:58 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to HELP on Macros - security issue? on Mon, 20 Jul 2026 17:58:09 GMT]]>User Manual has been updated:

]]>https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/105936https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/105936Mon, 20 Jul 2026 17:58:09 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to HELP on Macros - security issue? on Mon, 20 Jul 2026 14:34:35 GMT]]>

@My-name-is-Jon said:

I have done quite a few web search in different engines and also AI, and I could not find any references to this menu entry.

Apparently, your search engines don’t stay abreast of updates to the official online user manual for Notepad++, because https://npp-user-manual.org/docs/config-files/#run-menu-security most definitely describes that menu entry, though it focuses on the run-commands aspect, and should be clarified to also refer to macos.

]]>https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/105932https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/105932Mon, 20 Jul 2026 14:34:35 GMT