Notepad-X

Notepad-X is a Windows tabbed text editor built for everyday writing, code editing, side-by-side comparison, shared notes, project browsing, and safer handling of very large files.

It keeps the familiar single-window desktop editor workflow, then layers in compare mode, live Markdown preview, syntax-aware editing, recovery tools, Grab Git project downloads, remote file access, Find in Files, and a growing set of coding helpers without turning into a full IDE.

Highlights

• Tabbed editing with session restore, caret/scroll restore, and crash recovery
• Side-by-side compare mode and live Markdown preview in the shared right pane
• Compare multi-edit for mirrored editing while comparing normal text tabs
• Smarter autocomplete with document symbols, keywords, builtins, and nearby project file suggestions
• Symbol navigation for the current file and project-wide symbol lookup
• Code folding with gutter + / - controls plus F9, Shift+F9, and Ctrl+F9
• Inline math evaluation with Shift+Enter for expression = answer and Ctrl+Enter for the answer only
• Auto-pairing for brackets and quotes with matching-pair highlight
• Minimap, breadcrumbs, numbered lines, and synced PgUp / PgDn navigation in compare/preview
• Real-time diagnostics for warnings and syntax problems, including hover tooltips
• Grab Git for downloading a public GitHub repo and opening the files you want from inside the editor
• Docked command panel for quick commands, menu actions, and shell tasks
• Find In Files, live Find/Replace, and project symbol search for moving around bigger codebases
• SSH-style remote open/save for user@host:/absolute/path files using scp
• Autosave, atomic saves, backup snapshots, and large-file virtual mode
• Tab right-click actions for save, copy path/name, reveal, and move-to-new-window
• A dedicated Settings menu for editor toggles, plus a built-in hotkey editor for rebinding shortcuts
• Shared notes with replies, unread tracking, filters, and export
• Save and Run, encrypted .npxe saves, theme support, locale switching, and Windows shell integration

What Notepad-X Does Well

Editing and Coding

• Auto-indent keeps line indentation flowing naturally
• Auto-pair inserts matching brackets and quotes while typing
• Matching bracket highlight shows paired (), [], and {}
• Autocomplete suggests: document words symbols from the current file symbols from other open files syntax keywords Python keywords and builtins nearby module/file names from the working folder
• When the editor autocomplete list is open, use Up / Down to browse, Tab to accept, and Enter to insert a new line without taking the suggestion
• Inline math evaluation works on the current line: Shift+Enter appends or refreshes = answer Ctrl+Enter replaces the expression with the answer only arithmetic supports operators like +, -, *, /, %, //, exponent ^, parentheses, and implicit multiplication like 31(9*8)
• Symbol navigation supports: current-file symbol lookup with Ctrl+Shift+O project symbol lookup with Ctrl+Alt+P
• Folding supports: gutter fold boxes F9 to toggle the nearest foldable section containing the caret Shift+F9 to collapse all folds Ctrl+F9 to expand all folds
• Diagnostics can flag: trailing whitespace long lines over 140 characters Python syntax errors JSON parse errors XML parse errors
• Log and crash files can also surface traceback/error lines as hoverable diagnostics
• Hovering a highlighted diagnostic line shows the issue in a small info bubble

Navigation and Search

• Ctrl+F opens live Find
• Ctrl+R opens Replace
• Find In Files searches across folders and opens results in a dedicated window
• Ctrl+G jumps to a line
• Minimap provides a compressed file overview and click-to-jump navigation
• Breadcrumbs show the current file/path context and nearest symbol
• Clicking the filename in breadcrumbs copies just the filename; clicking the path copies the full location
• Ctrl+PgUp and Ctrl+PgDn jump to the top and bottom of the current document
• Optional synced PgUp / PgDn keeps the left editor and right compare/preview pane moving together

Compare, Preview, and Collaboration

• Ctrl+Q opens compare mode
• Compare mode keeps the source tab on the left and the selected comparison tab on the right
• Compare multi-edit can mirror typing, delete, paste, tab, and newline edits across both panes
• Ctrl+Shift+P opens live Markdown preview in the same right-side workspace
• Right-clicking a tab opens file-specific actions like save, copy name/path, reveal, and move to a new Notepad-X window
• Ctrl+Shift+C toggles the Currently Editing sidebar for shared file visibility
• Shared notes support: colored note markers threaded replies unread tracking note cycling JSON and Markdown export

Files, Safety, and Recovery

• Normal saves use atomic replace behavior
• Autosave can write changes back automatically
• Backup snapshots are created on save
• Session restore remembers open files, view state, window size/state, and major editor toggles
• Crash recovery can restore untitled work and modified tabs
• External-file conflict detection warns before overwriting newer disk content
• Large files can load in the background
• Extremely large files can fall back to virtual mode for responsive navigation
• Save As Encrypted creates passphrase-protected .npxe files
• Open Remote (SSH) fetches and saves remote files through scp

Projects and Repo Work

• Open Project loads a file and nearby related files from the same folder into the session
• Grab Git downloads a public GitHub repository into a local folder and lets you open the files you care about right away
• Project-wide symbol lookup helps you jump across larger codebases after opening a folder or downloaded repo
• Tabs can be moved into a new Notepad-X window when you want to split work across windows

Command Panel

Press Ctrl+Shift+K to open the bottom command panel.

It supports built-in commands for the File, Edit, View, Settings, and Help menus, along with editor tools like symbols, folding, preview, and diagnostics. Type : to open the built-in command autocomplete dropdown, use Up / Down to browse it, press Tab to accept a suggestion, and run :help to print the full list.

Quick examples:

• :help
• :symbols
• :project-symbols
• :fold
• :fold-all
• :unfold-all
• :lint
• :preview
• :compare
• :remote user@host:/absolute/path
• :autosave on|off
• :minimap on|off
• :diagnostics on|off

It can also run shell commands from the current document directory. cls or clear wipes the output pane, unknown : commands stay inside the built-in command system instead of falling through to the shell, and the panel height can be resized by dragging its top grip. It is a docked command runner, not a full interactive terminal emulator.

Remote Files

• Use File > Open Remote (SSH) or Ctrl+Alt+O
• Remote paths use this format: user@host:/absolute/path/to/file
• Notepad-X pulls the file locally through scp, edits it normally, and pushes changes back on save
• This is a file open/save workflow, not a full remote workspace explorer

Grab Git

• Use File > Grab Git or Ctrl+Shift+G
• Paste a public GitHub repository URL and Notepad-X downloads it locally for you
• After the download finishes, you can choose which files to open instead of manually digging through the whole repo first
• This makes it easy to inspect or edit a project quickly without leaving the editor

Large Files

• Large files can load asynchronously to keep the UI responsive
• Very large files can open in virtual mode
• Virtual mode keeps navigation available while limiting direct editing features
• Binary-like content opens in preview-style mode instead of normal editing mode

Settings Menu

• Settings collects the checkmark/toggle options that used to be split across Edit and View
• It includes status bar, numbered lines, autocomplete, spell check, auto-pair, compare multi-edit, minimap, breadcrumbs, diagnostics, autosave, word wrap, Markdown preview, sync page navigation, sound, and Edit with Notepad-X
• Settings > Hotkey Settings opens the built-in shortcut editor so you can rebind feature hotkeys without editing config files

Supported Languages

Notepad-X currently ships with 20 bundled language files:

• Arabic (United Arab Emirates) - العربية (الإمارات العربية المتحدة) - ar_AE
• Arabic (Egypt) - العربية (مصر) - ar_EG
• Arabic (Morocco) - العربية (المغرب) - ar_MA
• Arabic (Saudi Arabia) - العربية (المملكة العربية السعودية) - ar_SA
• Bengali (Bangladesh) - বাংলা (বাংলাদেশ) - bn_BD
• Chinese (Simplified, China) - 中文（简体，中国） - zh_CN
• Dutch (Netherlands) - Nederlands (Nederland) - nl_NL
• English (United States) - English (United States) - en_US
• French (Canada) - Français (Canada) - fr_CA
• German (Germany) - Deutsch (Deutschland) - de_DE
• Hebrew (Israel) - עברית (ישראל) - he_IL
• Hindi (India) - हिन्दी (भारत) - hi_IN
• Indonesian (Indonesia) - Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesia) - id_ID
• Italian (Italy) - Italiano (Italia) - it_IT
• Japanese (Japan) - 日本語（日本） - ja_JP
• Portuguese (Brazil) - Português (Brasil) - pt_BR
• Russian (Russia) - Русский (Россия) - ru_RU
• Spanish (Latin America) - Español (Latinoamérica) - es_419
• Spanish (Spain) - Español (España) - es_ES
• Ukrainian (Ukraine) - Українська (Україна) - uk_UA

Main Shortcuts

• Ctrl+W Open
• Ctrl+Shift+W Open Project
• Ctrl+Alt+O Open Remote (SSH)
• Ctrl+Shift+G Grab Git
• Ctrl+T New Tab
• Ctrl+Shift+T Close Tab
• Ctrl+S Save
• Ctrl+Shift+S Save All
• Ctrl+Shift+Q Save As
• Ctrl+Alt+S Save Copy As
• Ctrl+Shift+E Save As Encrypted
• Ctrl+Shift+R Save and Run
• Ctrl+E Export Notes
• Ctrl+P Print
• Ctrl+F Find
• Ctrl+R Replace
• Ctrl+Shift+K Command Panel
• Ctrl+Shift+O Jump to Symbol
• Ctrl+Alt+P Project Symbols
• Ctrl+G Go To Line
• Shift+Enter Calculate Current Line
• Ctrl+Enter Calculate Current Line as Answer Only
• F3 Find Next or next unread note
• Shift+F3 Find Previous
• F4 Cycle Notes
• F7 Toggle Spell Check
• F9 Toggle Fold at Caret Section
• Shift+F9 Collapse All Folds
• Ctrl+F9 Expand All Folds
• Ctrl+Shift+P Preview Markdown
• Ctrl+Shift+C Currently Editing
• Ctrl+Q Compare Tabs
• Ctrl+Shift+X Close compare/preview/panels or exit
• Ctrl+Alt+T Create Theme
• Ctrl+Alt+K Hotkey Settings
• Ctrl+B Toggle Status Bar
• Ctrl+Tab Switch Tab
• Ctrl+Shift+Tab Previous Tab
• Ctrl+PgUp Top of Document
• Ctrl+PgDn Bottom of Document
• Ctrl++ Zoom In
• Ctrl+- Zoom Out
• Ctrl+Mouse Wheel Zoom
• F11 Full Screen
• F1 Help Contents
• Shift+F1 About Notepad-X

Most settings toggles now also ship with defaults and can be reviewed or changed in Hotkey Settings.

Development and Release Builds

Use Python 3.14.6 or newer so the packaged standard library includes the current Expat security fixes. Create an isolated virtual environment, then install the pinned feature and build dependencies:

python -m venv .venv
.\.venv\Scripts\python -m pip install --upgrade pip
.\.venv\Scripts\python -m pip install -r requirements-build.txt
$env:PYTHON = (Resolve-Path .\.venv\Scripts\python.exe)
.\build-release.ps1

The tracked PyInstaller specification uses an explicit data allowlist. It includes locales, themes, spellcheck data, help, audio, and graphics while excluding sessions, editor identities, backups, remote caches, logs, Git data, and other mutable user content. Never create a release by archiving a used working directory or the output directory.

Clean packaged builds store mutable state under the current user's application-data directory. Existing portable installations that already have a cfg directory beside the executable continue using that directory for compatibility.

Run source tests independently with:

python -m unittest discover -s tests -v

Benchmark Snapshot

The updated EXE benchmark for Notepad-X 1.0.6.0 was captured on April 8, 2026 over 10 launches on Windows 11 Pro 25H2. In this baseline image, the charted launch bars favor Notepad-X, and the memory comparison shows a dramatically smaller footprint than Microsoft Notepad once the app is up. The tradeoff is also visible in the CPU and detailed metrics panels: Notepad-X front-loads more startup work, read activity, and process initialization so it can bring recovery, minimap, diagnostics, compare tools, theming, and other editor features online right away.

This under-load benchmark shows Microsoft Notepad and Notepad-X starting with a saved session history that already includes a 60 MB file. It tells us how each editor behaves when launch is no longer a clean start: Notepad-X still opens faster and keeps a lower memory footprint afterward, but it does that by spending much more CPU time, disk activity, and process work up front to restore that heavier session.