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
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Open the Notepad++ website. Go to https://notepad-plus-plus.org/ in your browser. -
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Click download. This tab is on the upper-left side of the page. -
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Click DOWNLOAD. It's a green button in the middle of the page. The Notepad++ installer will begin downloading.- Depending on your browser settings, you may have to select a save location or confirm the download before continuing.
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Double-click the setup file. It resembles a green frog. -
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Click Yes when prompted. The installation window will open. -
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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:- Click Next
- Click I Agree
- Click Next
- Click Next
- Check advanced options, then click Install
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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. -
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Delete any text currently in Notepad++. You'll usually see some developer notes here, so just highlight and delete them. -
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Click Settings. This tab is at the top of the Notepad++ window. Clicking it prompts a drop-down menu. -
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Click Preferences…. It's in the Settings drop-down menu. Doing so opens the Preferences window. -
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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.- You can change these settings to your liking, but be careful not to change anything that you don't understand.
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Click Close. It's at the bottom of the Preferences window. Doing so saves any changes and closes the window. -
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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.- For example, the purple floppy disk-shaped icon in the upper-left side of the window saves your progress on a project when clicked.
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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. -
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Select C. You'll find this option in the Language drop-down menu. A pop-out menu will appear. -
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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] -
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Add a title to your program. Type in//
followed by your program's title (e.g., "My first program"), then press ↵ Enter.- Any text in a line that's typed after two slash marks won't be read as code.
- For example: to entitle your program "Hi Earth", you'd type
//Hi Earth
into Notepad++.
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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. -
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Declare the program's function. Typeint 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. -
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Enter your program's execution code. Typestd::cout << "Hello World!";
into Notepad++ and press ↵ Enter. -
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Add a closed bracket. Type}
into Notepad++. This closes the program's execution phase. -
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Review your program. It should look something like this://Hi Earth
#include
int main ()
{
std::cout << "Hello World!";
}
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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.- 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. -
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Select B. You'll find this option in the Language drop-down menu. A pop-out menu will appear. -
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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] -
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Enter the "echo" command. Type@echo off
into Notepad++ and press ↵ Enter. -
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Add a title for your program. Type inTitle text
and press ↵ Enter, making sure to replace "text" with your preferred title.- When you run the program, the title text is what will display at the top of the Command Prompt window.
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Enter display text. Type inecho text
and press ↵ Enter. Replace "text" with whatever you want Command Prompt to display.- For example, if you want Command Prompt to say "Humans are superior!", you'd type
echo Humans are superior!
into Notepad++.
- For example, if you want Command Prompt to say "Humans are superior!", you'd type
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Halt the program. Typepause
into Notepad++ to indicate the end of the program. -
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Review your code. It should look something like this:@echo off
Title Improved Command Prompt
echo Humans are superior!
pause
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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.- 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
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Click the Language tab. It's at the top of the window. Clicking it prompts a drop-down menu. -
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Select H. You'll find this option in the Language drop-down menu. A pop-out menu will appear. -
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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] -
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Enter your document header. Typeinto Notepad++, then press ↵ Enter.
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Add the "html" tag. Typeinto Notepad++ and press ↵ Enter.
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Add the "body" tag. Typeinto Notepad++ and press ↵ Enter. This indicates that you'll be entering a section of text or other body information.
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Enter your page's heading. Type intext
and press ↵ Enter, making sure to replace the "text" section with your preferred page heading.- For example: to set your heading as "Welcome to my Swamp", you would type
Welcome to my Swamp
into Notepad++.
- For example: to set your heading as "Welcome to my Swamp", you would type
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Add text below the heading. Type intext
and press ↵ Enter. You'll replace "text" with your preferred text (e.g., "Make yourself right at home!"). -
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Close the "html" and "body" tags. Type inand press ↵ Enter, then type in
.
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Review your code. It should look like this:-
Welcome to my Swamp
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Make yourself right at home!
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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.- As long as you select your language before saving, Notepad++ will choose the correct file format for you.
- You should be able to open your HTML file in any web browser.
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