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How to Use Notepad++

This wikiHow teaches you how to install and use Notepad++ on your Windows computer. Notepad++ is a text editor that is optimized for programming languages, making it ideal for coding in languages like C++, Batch, and HTML. Open the...
Part 1 of 5:

Installing

  1. How to Use Notepad++ Picture 1How to Use Notepad++ Picture 1
    Open the Notepad++ website. Go to https://notepad-plus-plus.org/ in your browser.
  2. How to Use Notepad++ Picture 2How to Use Notepad++ Picture 2
    Click download. This tab is on the upper-left side of the page.
  3. How to Use Notepad++ Picture 3How to Use Notepad++ Picture 3
    Click DOWNLOAD. It's a green button in the middle of the page. The Notepad++ installer will begin downloading.
    1. Depending on your browser settings, you may have to select a save location or confirm the download before continuing.
  4. How to Use Notepad++ Picture 4How to Use Notepad++ Picture 4
    Double-click the setup file. It resembles a green frog.
  5. How to Use Notepad++ Picture 5How to Use Notepad++ Picture 5
    Click Yes when prompted. The installation window will open.
  6. How to Use Notepad++ Picture 6How to Use Notepad++ Picture 6
    Select a language. Click the language drop-down box, then click the language that you want to use.
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    Click OK. It's at the bottom of the Language window.
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    Follow the on-screen prompts. Do the following:
    1. Click Next
    2. Click I Agree
    3. Click Next
    4. Click Next
    5. Check advanced options, then click Install
  9. How to Use Notepad++ Picture 9How to Use Notepad++ Picture 9
    Click Finish. As long as you leave the "Run Notepad++" option checked, doing so will both close the installation window and open Notepad++.
Part 2 of 5:

Setting up Notepad++

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    Open Notepad++ if it isn't open. Double-click the Notepad++ app icon, which resembles a white pad with a green frog on it.
  2. How to Use Notepad++ Picture 11How to Use Notepad++ Picture 11
    Delete any text currently in Notepad++. You'll usually see some developer notes here, so just highlight and delete them.
  3. How to Use Notepad++ Picture 12How to Use Notepad++ Picture 12
    Click Settings. This tab is at the top of the Notepad++ window. Clicking it prompts a drop-down menu.
  4. How to Use Notepad++ Picture 13How to Use Notepad++ Picture 13
    Click Preferences…. It's in the Settings drop-down menu. Doing so opens the Preferences window.
  5. How to Use Notepad++ Picture 14How to Use Notepad++ Picture 14
    Review your Notepad++ settings. Look over the settings in the middle of the window, or click a tab on the left side of the Preferences window to change the category of settings that you're viewing.
    1. You can change these settings to your liking, but be careful not to change anything that you don't understand.
  6. How to Use Notepad++ Picture 15How to Use Notepad++ Picture 15
    Click Close. It's at the bottom of the Preferences window. Doing so saves any changes and closes the window.
  7. How to Use Notepad++ Picture 16How to Use Notepad++ Picture 16
    Review the menu buttons. Near the top of the Notepad++ window, you'll see a row of colored buttons. Hovering your mouse over each of the buttons will show you what each button does.
    1. For example, the purple floppy disk-shaped icon in the upper-left side of the window saves your progress on a project when clicked.
  8. How to Use Notepad++ Picture 17How to Use Notepad++ Picture 17
    Decide on a language. This article covers examples for C++, Batch, and HTML coding, but you can use almost any language that you want to with Notepad++. Once you have a language picked out, you can proceed with actually using Notepad++ to create a program.
Part 3 of 5:

Creating a Simple C++ Program

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    Click the Language tab. It's at the top of the window. Clicking it prompts a drop-down menu.
  2. How to Use Notepad++ Picture 19How to Use Notepad++ Picture 19
    Select C. You'll find this option in the Language drop-down menu. A pop-out menu will appear.
  3. How to Use Notepad++ Picture 20How to Use Notepad++ Picture 20
    Click C++. It's in the pop-out menu. Most programmers' first experiences with C++ involve creating a program that says "Hello, World!" when run, so that's what you'll do here.[1]
  4. How to Use Notepad++ Picture 21How to Use Notepad++ Picture 21
    Add a title to your program. Type in // followed by your program's title (e.g., "My first program"), then press ↵ Enter.
    1. Any text in a line that's typed after two slash marks won't be read as code.
    2. For example: to entitle your program "Hi Earth", you'd type //Hi Earth into Notepad++.
  5. How to Use Notepad++ Picture 22How to Use Notepad++ Picture 22
    Enter the preprocessor command. Type #include into Notepad++, then press ↵ Enter. This command instructs C++ to run the following lines of code as a program.
  6. How to Use Notepad++ Picture 23How to Use Notepad++ Picture 23
    Declare the program's function. Type int main () into Notepad++, then press ↵ Enter.
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    Add an open bracket. Type { into Notepad++, then press ↵ Enter. Your program's main code will go between this open bracket and a closed bracket later.
  8. How to Use Notepad++ Picture 25How to Use Notepad++ Picture 25
    Enter your program's execution code. Type std::cout << "Hello World!"; into Notepad++ and press ↵ Enter.
  9. How to Use Notepad++ Picture 26How to Use Notepad++ Picture 26
    Add a closed bracket. Type } into Notepad++. This closes the program's execution phase.
  10. How to Use Notepad++ Picture 27How to Use Notepad++ Picture 27
    Review your program. It should look something like this:
    1. //Hi Earth
    2. #include
    3. int main ()
    4. {
    5. std::cout << "Hello World!";
    6. }
  11. How to Use Notepad++ Picture 28How to Use Notepad++ Picture 28
    Save your program. Click File, then click Save As... in the drop-down menu, enter a name for your program, select a save location, and click Save.
    1. If you have a program on your computer that can run C++, you should be able to open your Hello World program in it.
Part 4 of 5:

Creating a Simple Batch Program

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    Click the Language tab. It's at the top of the window. Clicking it prompts a drop-down menu.
  2. How to Use Notepad++ Picture 30How to Use Notepad++ Picture 30
    Select B. You'll find this option in the Language drop-down menu. A pop-out menu will appear.
  3. How to Use Notepad++ Picture 31How to Use Notepad++ Picture 31
    Click Batch. It's in the pop-out menu. Batch is a modified version of the commands that you use in Command Prompt, so any Batch file will open in Command Prompt.[2]
  4. How to Use Notepad++ Picture 32How to Use Notepad++ Picture 32
    Enter the "echo" command. Type @echo off into Notepad++ and press ↵ Enter.
  5. How to Use Notepad++ Picture 33How to Use Notepad++ Picture 33
    Add a title for your program. Type in Title text and press ↵ Enter, making sure to replace "text" with your preferred title.
    1. When you run the program, the title text is what will display at the top of the Command Prompt window.
  6. How to Use Notepad++ Picture 34How to Use Notepad++ Picture 34
    Enter display text. Type in echo text and press ↵ Enter. Replace "text" with whatever you want Command Prompt to display.
    1. For example, if you want Command Prompt to say "Humans are superior!", you'd type echo Humans are superior! into Notepad++.
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    Halt the program. Type pause into Notepad++ to indicate the end of the program.
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    Review your code. It should look something like this:
    1. @echo off
    2. Title Improved Command Prompt
    3. echo Humans are superior!
    4. pause
  9. How to Use Notepad++ Picture 37How to Use Notepad++ Picture 37
    Save your program. Click File, then click Save As... in the drop-down menu, enter a name for your program, select a save location, and click Save.
    1. If you want to run your program, simply find it in its save location and double-click it to do so.
Part 5 of 5:

Creating a Simple HTML Program

  1. How to Use Notepad++ Picture 38How to Use Notepad++ Picture 38
    Click the Language tab. It's at the top of the window. Clicking it prompts a drop-down menu.
  2. How to Use Notepad++ Picture 39How to Use Notepad++ Picture 39
    Select H. You'll find this option in the Language drop-down menu. A pop-out menu will appear.
  3. How to Use Notepad++ Picture 40How to Use Notepad++ Picture 40
    Click HTML. It's in the pop-out menu. HTML is commonly used for website pages, so you'll be creating a basic webpage heading and subheading.[3]
  4. How to Use Notepad++ Picture 41How to Use Notepad++ Picture 41
    Enter your document header. Type into Notepad++, then press ↵ Enter.
  5. How to Use Notepad++ Picture 42How to Use Notepad++ Picture 42
    Add the "html" tag. Type into Notepad++ and press ↵ Enter.
  6. How to Use Notepad++ Picture 43How to Use Notepad++ Picture 43
    Add the "body" tag. Type into Notepad++ and press ↵ Enter. This indicates that you'll be entering a section of text or other body information.
  7. How to Use Notepad++ Picture 44How to Use Notepad++ Picture 44
    Enter your page's heading. Type in

    text

    and press ↵ Enter, making sure to replace the "text" section with your preferred page heading.
    1. For example: to set your heading as "Welcome to my Swamp", you would type

      Welcome to my Swamp

      into Notepad++.
  8. How to Use Notepad++ Picture 45How to Use Notepad++ Picture 45
    Add text below the heading. Type in

    text

    and press ↵ Enter. You'll replace "text" with your preferred text (e.g., "Make yourself right at home!").
  9. How to Use Notepad++ Picture 46How to Use Notepad++ Picture 46
    Close the "html" and "body" tags. Type in and press ↵ Enter, then type in .
  10. How to Use Notepad++ Picture 47How to Use Notepad++ Picture 47
    Review your code. It should look like this:

    4. Welcome to my Swamp

    5. Make yourself right at home!

  11. How to Use Notepad++ Picture 48How to Use Notepad++ Picture 48
    Save your program. Click File, then click Save As... in the drop-down menu, enter a name for your program, select a save location, and click Save.
    1. As long as you select your language before saving, Notepad++ will choose the correct file format for you.
    2. You should be able to open your HTML file in any web browser.
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