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. Notepad Next icon

    Notepad Next

     9 likes
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    A cross-platform, reimplementation of Notepad++. Releases are available for Windows, Linux, and macOS.

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Notepad Next screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Works Offline
    2.  Portable

    Notepad Next VS Windows Notepad

     
  2. Notes (PFA) icon

    Notes (PFA)

     3 likes
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    Privacy Friendly Notes allows you to take and manage notes on Android devices. It belongs to the Privacy Friendly Apps group developed by the research group SECUSO at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. More information can be found an secuso.org/pfa

    66 Notes (PFA) alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • DE flagGermany
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • F-Droid
    • Android
    Notes (PFA) screenshot 1
    Notes (PFA) screenshot 2
    Notes (PFA) screenshot 3

    Properties

    1.  Privacy focused

    Features

    1.  Ad-free
    2.  No registration required
    3.  No Tracking
    4.  Checklists
    5.  Sketching

    Notes (PFA) VS Windows Notepad

     
  4. Text Editor Pro icon

    Text Editor Pro

     10 likes
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    Text Editor Pro (formerly EditBone) is a powerful text editing tool that comes with syntax highlighting, support for over 50 languages and scripts, 22 different styles, a handy file comparison feature and support for multiple directories and search results.

    License model

    • Free • Proprietary

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • HU flagHungary
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Windows
    Text Editor Pro screenshot 1

    Text Editor Pro Features

    1.  Portable
    2.  Syntax Highlighting

    Text Editor Pro VS Windows Notepad

     
  5. Smultron icon

    Smultron

     71 likes
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    Smultron is a text editor for Mac OS X Leopard 10.5 which is both easy to use and powerful. It is designed to neither confuse newcomers nor disappoint advanced users. It should work perfectly for a whole variety of needs - like web programming, script editing, making a to do...

    License model

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • SE flagSweden
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Mac
    Smultron screenshot 1

    Smultron VS Windows Notepad

     
  6. Programmer's Notepad icon

    Programmer's Notepad

     63 likes
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    Notepad more focused on developing than just scribble down notes.

    These is not an exhaustive feature list, but gives you some idea of the features present in Programmer’s Notepad.

    • Syntax Highlighting for lots of languages, configured with schemes
    • Multi-language use.

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • GB flagUnited Kingdom

    Platforms

    • Windows
    PN on Vista
    Discontinued

    not updated since 3 dec 2016

    Programmer's Notepad Features

    1.  Syntax Highlighting
    2.  Portable
    3.  Tabbed interface
    4.  Multiple languages
    5.  Support for regular expressions
    6.  Search and Replace

    Programmer's Notepad VS Windows Notepad

     
  7. EditPad Lite icon

    EditPad Lite

     43 likes
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    EditPad Lite is a compact general-purpose text editor. Use EditPad Lite to easily edit any kind of plain text file. EditPad Lite has all the essential features to make text editing a breeze:

    License model

    • Free Personal • Proprietary

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • GB flagUnited Kingdom

    Platforms

    • Windows
    EditPad Lite screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Minimalistic

    Features

    1.  Portable
    2.  Multiple languages
    3.  Support for Large File
    4.  Support for regular expressions

    EditPad Lite VS Windows Notepad

     
  9. WriteRoom icon

    WriteRoom

     50 likes
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    For Mac users to write without distractions. WriteRoom is a full screen writing environment. Unlike the cluttered word processors you're used to, WriteRoom lets you focus on writing. Requires Mac OS X 10.

    License model

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Mac
    Mac OS Screen
    Discontinued

    The program is no longer available for iOS. The Mac version, v3.2.1, released in August 2012, can be still bought from the AppStore.

    Properties

    1.  Distraction-free

    Features

    1.  Fullscreen support
    2.  Distraction-free Writing

    WriteRoom VS Windows Notepad

     
  10. BabelPad icon

    BabelPad

     5 likes
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    BabelPad is a free Unicode text editor for Windows that supports the proper rendering of most complex scripts, and allows you to assign different fonts to different scripts in order to facilitate multi-script text editing.

    152 BabelPad alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Proprietary

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • GB flagUnited Kingdom

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • PortableApps.com
    BabelPad screenshot 1

    BabelPad Features

    1.  Portable
    2.  Support for Unicode
    3.  Multiple languages

    BabelPad VS Windows Notepad

     
  11. Simple Text Editor icon

    Simple Text Editor

     1 like
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    It is a web-based, simple text editor. It is also word counter, character counter and line counter.

    License model

    • Free • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
    Simple Text Editor screenshot 1

    Simple Text Editor Features

    1.  Save as txt
    2.  Word counter
    3.  Character Counter

    Simple Text Editor VS Windows Notepad

     
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