Windows Notepad Alternatives

Windows Notepad is described as 'Fast, lightweight editor bundled with Windows since 1985. Supports plain text, UTF-8, Linux newline, over 100 languages, with improved features' and is a very popular Text Editor in the os & utilities category. There are more than 100 alternatives to Windows Notepad for a variety of platforms, including Windows, Mac, Linux, BSD and Flathub apps. The best Windows Notepad alternative is Notepad++, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like Windows Notepad are Sublime Text, Vim, Kate and gedit.

filter to find the best alternatives

Windows Notepad alternatives are mainly Text Editors, but if you're looking for Code Editors or IDEs you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Windows + Free. You can also filter by region, for example EU-based alternatives if you prefer software developed in the European Union. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to Windows Notepad.
Windows Notepad iconWindows Notepad
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Fast, lightweight editor bundled with Windows since 1985. Supports plain text, UTF-8, Linux newline, over 100 languages, with improved features.

More about Windows Notepad
More about Windows Notepad
Windows Notepad alternatives page was last updated May 16, 2025
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  1. MarkMyWords icon

    MarkMyWords

     2 likes
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    MarkMyWords is the ideal markup-writing tool for authors. By using Markdown, MultiMarkdown, Textile, Wikitext, HTML or BBCode MarkMyWords makes writing articles for the web a breeze and remains platform-independent by using plain text documents.

    License model

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    MarkMyWords screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Distraction-free

    Features

    1.  Support for MarkDown

    MarkMyWords VS Windows Notepad

     
  2. Diakonos icon

    Diakonos

     4 likes
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    Diakonos is a powerful and easy to use console-based text editor.

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD
    Diakonos screenshot 1

    Diakonos Features

    1.  Command line interface
    2.  Console-based

    Diakonos VS Windows Notepad

     
  4. Syncplify.me Notepad! icon

    Syncplify.me Notepad!

     9 likes
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    Notepad! is the free, powerful, feature-rich replacement for your Windows Notepad. This software is completely free to use, for both personal and business purposes. With multi-document editing, split editing (two views of the same document, side by side, with synchronized...

    License model

    • Free • Proprietary

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Windows
    Syncplify.me Notepad! screenshot 1

    Syncplify.me Notepad! Features

    1.  Syntax Highlighting
    2.  Portable
    3.  Support for regular expressions
    4.  Support for Large File
    5.  Tabbed interface

    Syncplify.me Notepad! VS Windows Notepad

     
  5. Temporary Note icon

    Temporary Note

     1 like
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    Temporary Note is a simple website you can open on any device to temporarily jot something down. It's an easy way to put simple, temporary notes into your browser tabs.

    License model

    • Free • Proprietary

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • SE flagSweden
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Online
    Shopping list

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Privacy focused

    Features

    1.  No Coding Required
    2.  No registration required
    3.  Save as txt

    Temporary Note VS Windows Notepad

     
  6. JOE icon

    JOE

     18 likes
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    JOE is a full featured terminal-based screen editor which is distributed under the GNU General Public License (GPL). JOE has been around since 1988 and comes standard with many Linux distributions.

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    JOE screenshot 1
    Discontinued

    Last update on Apr 2021 and last release on Jan 2018.

    JOE Features

    1.  Command line interface
    2.  Support for Large File

    JOE VS Windows Notepad

     
  7. Suplemon icon

    Suplemon

     3 likes
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    Console text editor with multi cursor support. Suplemon replicates Sublime Text style functionality in the terminal.

    License model

    • Free • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    Suplemon screenshot 1
    Discontinued

    Last update on Jan 2021 and last release on Jun 2019.

    Suplemon Features

    1.  Command line interface
    2.  Console-based

    Suplemon VS Windows Notepad

     
  9. xPad. icon

    xPad.

     4 likes
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    xPad is the ultimate notepad, TextEdit and Stickies replacement for Apple's OS X. With a simple, easy-to-use interface and powerful multi-document features, xPad will quickly become your daily text editor of choice.

    License model

    • Free • Proprietary

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Mac
    xPad. screenshot 1
    Discontinued

    xPad is no longer developed or maintained, but it can be still downloaded from its webpage.

    xPad. VS Windows Notepad

     
  10. BlueGem icon

    BlueGem

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    BlueGem is a great RichText Editor and its a great alternative to Notepad (if you are looking for one). It has a same look like Notepad (except the Toolbox). If it didn't have the toolbox you would think you was using Notepad.

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    BlueGem screenshot 1

    BlueGem VS Windows Notepad

     
  11. Text Editor icon

    Text Editor

     1 like
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    GNOME Text Editor is a simple text editor focused on a pleasing default experience.

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • GNOME
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    Text Editor screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Support for Themes
    3.  Privacy focused

    Features

    1.  Ad-free
    2.  No Tracking
    3.  Syntax Highlighting
    4.  Works Offline
    5.  No registration required
    6.  Crash recovery
    7.  Auto-saving

    Text Editor VS Windows Notepad

     
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