Notepad++ 8.3.2 improves very large file handling and performance

Notepad++ is a popular open source alternative and replacement to Notepad, the default Windows plain text editor.  The default text editor Notepad has not received many updates over the years, but Microsoft revealed recently that it plans to push updated versions with an improved feature set via its Microsoft Store.

Notepad++ has been the go-to application for many Windows users when it comes to plain text editing. Features that make it a better solution for many are its support for larger files and plugins, programming language support, advanced find and replace functionality and a lot more. The text editor opens plain text files quickly and is offered as a portable version or an installer.

The last major release version of Notepad++, version 8.2, was released on January 1, 2022. It fixed a memory leak and introduced new features, including the much requested folder exclusion option for its find in files functionality.

Notepad 8.3.2 is a bug fix release for the most part, but it does include some improvements as well. The first improves the performance of the program when exiting under specific configurations. Users who noticed delays when closing Notepad++ while large files were open in the editor may benefit from this.

For those interested, the two settings that affected the performance were the unchecked Remember current session for next launch and the checked Default (mono-instance) settings.

Notepad++ users who open large files using the application may benefit from improved support for large files. Files with 2 Gigabytes or larger benefit from the improvement. You can read up on it here if you are interested in the specifics of the patch.

Here is the full list of changes:

Fix incorrect message while double clicking on search result regression. (Fix #11215, #11106)
Fix regression: file can’t be saved if it’s set to other charset before. (Fix #11238)
Fix UDL comment config input fields broken regression. (Fix #11239)
Fix UDL dialog crash issue on over 30 created UDL. (Fix #11257)
Add sorting document tab order commands by name, path, type and size under “Window” Menu. (Fix #10393)
Add API NPPM_GETCURRENTLINESTR and variable $(CURRENT_LINESTR) for RunDlg. (Fix #11216)
Support better 2GB+ file (cmdline & session file adaptation). (Fix #11213)
Fix auto-completion sort order problem due to fx icon. (Fix #11233)
Refine auto-saving session on exit behaviour. (Fix #11249)
Enhance performance on exit with certain settings. (Fix #11219)
Fix auto-complete case insensitive not working issue. (Fix #11187)
Fix saving problem (regression) with “Sysnative” alias in x86 binary. (Fix #11196)

Notepad++ 8.3.2 is available for download at the official project website. There you also find listed the changes in the release and links to the issues pages on GitHub.

Now You: which text editor do you prefer, and why?

Notepad++ 8.3.2 improves very large file handling and performance

Frontpaged:  Notepad++ 8.3.2