Last Opened Files are not There when Reopening after Windows 11 Update

[Karen3D]

Hello,
My work laptop was just update for Windows 11 a week ago. Since then, NotePad++ will not backup my files so that they open the next time I open NotePad++. I have tried:

1. Going into %AppData%\Notepad++ and removing the old session.xml, and starting over.
2. Going into Settings and in Preferences
   a. Backup - turning off and on “Remember current session for next launch” and “Enable session snaptshot and periodic backup”. It is set to “Simple backup”.
   b. MISC - Turning off and on “Enable for all opened files”.
3. Turning off and on Plugins.

I don’t know what else to do or try.
I cannot uninstall and reinstall the program as only IT has permissions to do that.
This did not happen on my personal computer.

Here is my Debug List (with Plugins turned back on after blocking them for a test).
Notepad++ v8.9.8 (64-bit)
Build time: Aug 23 2026 - 17:22:44
Scintilla/Lexilla included: 5.6.6/5.5.3
Boost Regex included: 1_90
pugixml included: 1.16
nlohmann JSON included: 3.12.0
Path: C:\Program Files\Notepad++\notepad++.exe
Command Line:
Admin mode: OFF
Local Conf mode: OFF
Cloud Config: OFF
WinGUp: absent
disableNppAutoUpdate.xml: absent
Periodic Backup: ON
Placeholders: ON
Scintilla Rendering Mode: SC_TECHNOLOGY_DIRECTWRITE (1)
Multi-instance Mode: monoInst
asNotepad: OFF
File Status Auto-Detection: cdEnabledOld (for all opened files/tabs)
Dark Mode: OFF
Display Info:
primary monitor: 1920x1080, scaling 125%
visible monitors count: 2
installed Display Class adapters:
0000: Description - Intel® UHD Graphics
0000: DriverVersion - 31.0.101.2130
0001: Description - DisplayLink USB Device
0001: DriverVersion - 11.3.5139.0
0002: Description - DisplayLink USB Device
0002: DriverVersion - 11.3.5139.0
0003: Description - DisplayLink USB Device
0003: DriverVersion - 11.3.5139.0
- warning, search has been limited to maximum number of adapter records: 4
OS Name: Windows 11 Enterprise (64-bit)
OS Version: 23H2
OS Build: 22631.7584
Current ANSI codepage: 1252
Plugins:
mimeTools (3.1)
NppConverter (4.7)
NppExport (0.4)

Thank you for any help you can offer me,

[PeterJones]

@Karen3D ,

That sounds like a permissions issue… but you aren’t running in Admin mode, so usually there isn’t such a thing.

What are the results of the following experiment?

1. Exit Notepad++
2. delete %AppData%\Notepad++\session.xml
3. Run Notepad++
4. Open 3 files
5. Exit Notepad++
6. Look at %AppData%\Notepad++
   • Is there session.xml ?
   • If you open it (with notepad.exe or some other editor), what are its contents
   • What permissions does it have? Windows Right-Click properties, Security tab, click on your username, it should have all the normal permissions checkmarked, like:
     

If it’s there, and your three files are listed, then when you next run Notepad++, it should load those files. If it does, great, problem solved. If it doesn’t, then as long as it’s not a security issue (ie, unimportant filenames/paths without secrets in the path), it would be great if you could share the contents of the session.xml, as well as confirming that your Debug Info is identical to what you shared above, and paste screenshot of your Settings > Preferences > Backup