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. Jottr icon

    Jottr

     1 like
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    A simple, opinionated plain text editor designed for writers, journalists and researchers. Jottr is not meant to be a full-featured text editor, but rather a simple and easy to use tool for writing. It's not aimed at developers.

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    Jottr screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Privacy focused
    2.  Support for Themes
    3.  Distraction-free
    4.  Customizable

    Features

    1.  No Tracking
    2.  Autocompletion
    3.  No registration required
    4.  Built-in Dictionary
    5.  Works Offline
    6.  Ad-free
    7.  Full-Text Search
    8.  Word counter
    9.  Integrated Web Browser
    10.  Distraction-free Writing

    Jottr VS Windows Notepad

     
  2. ATPad icon

    ATPad

     3 likes
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    ATPad is a simple Notepad replacement written in pure C and Windows API. Keeping simplicity of Notepad it provides many additional features. 90kb UPX repacked.

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • PortableApps.com
    • The Portable Freeware Collection
    90kb!

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Dark Mode
    2.  Portable
    3.  Send to email
    4.  Code Completion

    ATPad VS Windows Notepad

     
  4. TeraPad icon

    TeraPad

     1 like
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    TeraPad is very light-weight text editor which supports styling for css html js and other major languages.

    License model

    • Free • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    TeraPad screenshot 1

    TeraPad VS Windows Notepad

     
  5. DevTEd Lite icon

    DevTEd Lite

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    DevTEd Lite is a free source code editor that supports several languages. System requirements: MS WIndows 10 or later.

    License model

    • Free • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Windows
    DevTEd Lite screenshot 1

    DevTEd Lite Features

    1.  Syntax Highlighting
    2.  Automatic Indentation
    3.  Code Folding

    DevTEd Lite VS Windows Notepad

     
  6. Skylark edit icon

    Skylark edit

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    Skylark Edit is written in C, a high performance text/hex editor. Embedded Database-client/Redis-client/Lua-engine. You can run Lua scripts and SQL files directly.

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Windows
    home

    Skylark edit Features

    1.  Syntax Highlighting

    Skylark edit VS Windows Notepad

     
  7. Notepas icon

    Notepas

     9 likes
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    Notepas is a fast portable native multiplatform text editor written in Lazarus and can be compiled for multiple platforms and widget sets using the advanced native Free Pascal Compiler.

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Notepas screenshot 1
    Discontinued

    Cannot run on macOS Monterey and the last update is from 2016.

    Notepas Features

    1.  Syntax Highlighting
    2.  Portable
    3.  Search and Replace
    4.  Support for Unicode
    5.  GPLv3

    Notepas VS Windows Notepad

     
  9. Ivirius Text Editor icon

    Ivirius Text Editor

     2 likes
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    The Ivirius Text Editor is a tool similar to Wordpad in Windows, which allows you to create, write and edit rich text files. It is easy to use and has almost all the functions that WordPad has, plus a few more. Now, it comes with intuitive child windows and tabs!.

    License model

    • Freemium • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Windows
    Ivirius Text Editor (Free version) in Dark Mode, with Ruler & Status Bar enabled, and window resized to be wider

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Privacy focused

    Features

    1.  Portable
    2.  Autocompletion
    3.  Spell Checking
    4.  No Coding Required
    5.  No Tracking
    6.  No registration required
    7.  Ad-free
    8.  Support for MarkDown
    9.  Full-Text Search
    10.  Works Offline
    11.  Text search feature
    12.  Fast speed

    Ivirius Text Editor VS Windows Notepad

     
  10. KWrite icon

    KWrite

     3 likes
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    KWrite is a text editor by KDE, based on the Kate's editor component.

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • DE flagGermany
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Snapcraft
    • Flathub
    • Windows
    • Mac
    KWrite screenshot 1

    KWrite VS Windows Notepad

     
  11. SlickEdit icon

    SlickEdit

     14 likes
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    SlickEdit is a cross-platform, multi-language code editor that gives programmers the ability to code in over 40 languages on 7 platforms.

    90 SlickEdit alternatives

    License model

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    SlickEdit screenshot 1

    SlickEdit Features

    1.  Autocompletion
    2.  Syntax Highlighting
    3.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions

    SlickEdit VS Windows Notepad

     
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