How to install a Notepad++ Plugin
Notepad++ is one of the best text editors out there, which will make an excellent substitute for the basic version of Notepad on your Windows system. It has some excellent features for non-programmers such as the multiple documents feature (which is also called a tabbed interface), bookmarking, and macro recording. It supports multiple customizable features for programmers such as code folding, autocompletion for scripting, programming, and different kinds of mark-up languages.
Even though Notepad++ comes with several of these in-built features, it is possible to extend the functionality of your text editor through the installation of several plugins.
Notepad++ plugins are located in the Plugins directory in the main Notepad++ Installation directory. They are dynamic-link-library or DLL files and if you want to work on these files, then just adding them or removing them would be enough.
You can install them manually or install them using the Plugins Admin
If you are installing using the Plugins Admin, then it is going to allow you to install plugins that are in the Plugins list. To do that, you can place a checkmark on the Plugins that you would like to install and then select the “Install” Feature. Let us look at an image of that below:
If the required plugin is not in the Plugins Admin/directory, then you can install it manually. To do so, the plugin in the DLL form (as mentioned before) should be put in the Plugins subfolder of the Notepad++ Install folder, under the same sub-folder with the same name of the plugin, without the file extension. For example- the plugin myfirstplugin.dll would be found under the following path:
%PROGRAMFILES(x86)%\Notepad++\plugins\myfirstPlugin\myfirstPlugin.dll
There are a few important things that you must keep in mind during Installation:
If you have already installed Notepad++, then you can uninstall it and keep it to your custom settings. You can just click Yes on the dialog box that will appear when you uninstall it.
The good thing about Notepad++ is that because it is such a light-weight software and an easy application to run on your laptop, you don’t have to do too much work to install and uninstall it.
When you see the “Choose Components” option during the installation process, then ensure that custom is what you have selected from the drop-down menu. After this, check the Plugins Admin box from the list.
Notepad++ stores all configuration files in the %LOCALAPPDATA%\Notepad++\plugins folder. If you would like to move to a Notepad++ to an external drive like a USB hard drive or something similar to run it on any Windows Computer, then you can work with preserving the configuration files in the original program folder instead.
If you are working on installing a plugin without the Plugins admin, that is also possible. The first step would be to download the plugin. It will normally download as a zipped file that you would have to extract. Normally plugins come in two different versions- the 86x and the 64x. First, find out which one will be supported by your laptop configuration and the one that matches your system installation. Once this is downloaded and you have extracted the plugin that is required, you will need to paste the following extension with the extracted file to this location:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Notepad++\plugins
If you cannot identify this location on your laptop, then you can paste the plugin files to the following location:
C:\Program Files\Notepad++\plugins
It is possible for you to install any plugin for Notepad++ and this essentially implies that as long as an application is safe, it is downloadable. Notepad++ does not restrict users from installing only those that are available in the Plugins Admin.
Although this kind of flexibility can be very tempting, it can also be very dangerous because it means that if you are installing plugins from outside the Plugins directory/admin, you are automatically opening yourself up to risks. This is why communities are very safe because any plugin that is vetted by the Notepad++ community will be safe to use. It is important to remember that only those that are trusted by the community will be the ones that you should invest in.
Let’s briefly look at the top 5 best plugins for Notepad++
Code Alignment
The code alignment plugin’s job is to align the code and provide us with the option of choosing any sign for alignment. Sometimes we have to do seemingly menial tasks and there is no shortcut for this. This plugin allows us to define and create our shortcuts which is extremely time-efficient.
SpellChecker
This plugin is one of the best out there. It ensures that whatever document you share with someone, will be free of any spelling errors. There it is, plain and simple.
Compare
This is an extremely useful plugin. It allows you to open two documents/files side by side for you to compare them together and spot the differences or the similarities, depending on your requirements at the time.
AutoSave
Who doesn’t need this plugin, are we right? This is for all those people who find it difficult to save their code. This plugin provides a lot of options for people out there like us, by giving you options like, the frequency at which you would like to be reminded to save your code. This plugin ensures that if you missed out on saving your code, for whatever reason, your plugin is to the rescue.
Auto Indent
Indenting can be a difficult struggle for a lot of programmers out there and might be a skill that you may not have. If you are to download and install this code, this plugin will support all C/C++ languages and PHP languages. Indentation can be very important because it can help to improve the code readability without you having to do much.
Conclusion
So here we are, knowing the process behind installing and downloading a plugin, along with a brief overview of our top pick of the 5 best plugins for Notepad++. We hope that the process of doing so, becomes easier for you if you had trouble in the beginning. Some of the important things for you to consider is what windows system you are operating and the system requirements, as that can decide whether you need to install the Notepad++ plugin manually or can directly access it through the in-built Plugins directory.