Windows Notepad Alternatives for Linux

Windows Notepad is not available for Linux but there are plenty of alternatives that runs on Linux with similar functionality. The best Linux alternative is Sublime Text, which is free. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to Windows Notepad and many of them are available for Linux so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Linux alternatives to Windows Notepad are Vim, Kate, gedit and GNU Emacs.

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 Open Source, Windows + Free, Windows, Text Editors, Linux and Windows + Lightweight. 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.
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Alternatives list

  1. Sublime Text icon

    Sublime Text

     2036 likes
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    Powerful editor blending code, markup, and prose editing with enhanced features like multi-tab selection, side-by-side definition viewing, and multiple selection tools for swift code navigation.

    190 Sublime Text alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium (Pay once)
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Sublime Text screenshot 1
     
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    15

    • Most users think Sublime Text is a great Windows Notepad alternative.

    • Sublime Text is the most popular Mac & Linux alternative to Windows Notepad.

    • Sublime Text is Freemium and ProprietaryWindows Notepad is Free and Proprietary
    • Sublime Text is CustomizableWindows Notepad is not according to our users
  2. Vim icon

    Vim

     1340 likes
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    Vim ("Vi IMproved") is an advanced text editor that allows syntax highlighting, word completion and has a huge amount of contributed content. It also has a GUI version called GVim.

    212 Vim alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Haiku
    • AmigaOS
    • OpenSolaris
    • MorphOS
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    • Snapcraft
    Vim screenshot 1
     
  4. Kate icon

    Kate

     310 likes
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    The Kate project develops two main products: KatePart, the advanced editor component which is used in numerous KDE applications requiring a text editing component, and Kate, a MDI text editor application.

    142 Kate alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • KDE Plasma
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    • Snapcraft
    Kate screenshot 1
     
  5. gedit icon

    gedit

     693 likes
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    Official text editor of the GNOME desktop environment. Has syntax highlighting and is suitable for programming, with support for several languages. It is extensible with plugins.

    190 gedit alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Chrome OS
    • BSD
    • GNOME
    • OpenSolaris
    • Flathub
    The Default look under GNOME with Adwaita
     
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    8
  6. GNU Emacs icon

    GNU Emacs

     387 likes
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    GNU Emacs is an extensible, customizable text editor—and more. At its core is an interpreter for Emacs Lisp, a dialect of the Lisp programming language with extensions to support text editing. The features of GNU Emacs include:

    178 GNU Emacs alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • BSD
    • Snapcraft
    • F-Droid
    • Haiku
    • Debian
    • MacPorts
    • Homebrew
    The GNU Emacs Manual calls Emacs the extensible, customizable, self-documenting real-time display editor
     

    • GNU Emacs is the most popular Android alternative to Windows Notepad.

    • GNU Emacs is Free and Open SourceWindows Notepad is Free and Proprietary
    • GNU Emacs is Customizable and Privacy focusedWindows Notepad is not according to our users
  7. GNU nano icon

    GNU nano

     289 likes
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    GNU nano is a small and friendly text editor. Besides basic text editing, nano offers many extra features like an interactive search and replace, go to line and column number, auto-indentation, feature toggles, internationalization support, and filename tab completion.

    152 GNU nano alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Haiku
    GNU nano screenshot 1
     
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    1
    Comments about GNU nano as an Alternative to Windows Notepad
    Guest
    Positive
    0

    It works, even on very large text files. Not all these alternatives do work.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Windows Notepad Icon
    GNU nano icon
    • GNU nano is Free and Open SourceWindows Notepad is Free and Proprietary
  10. SciTE icon

    SciTE

     150 likes
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    SciTE is a SCIntilla based Text Editor. Originally built to demonstrate Scintilla, it has grown to be a generally useful editor with facilities for building and running programs. It is best used for jobs with simple configurations - I use it for building test and demonstration...

    155 SciTE alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Xfce
    SciTE screenshot 1
     
  11. UltraEdit icon

    UltraEdit

     161 likes
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    UltraEdit is the ideal text, HTML and HEX editor, and an advanced PHP, Perl, Java and JavaScript editor for programmers. An industry-award winner, UltraEdit supports disk-based 64-bit file handling (standard) on 32-bit Windows platforms (Windows 2000 and later).

    209 UltraEdit alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Pay once or Subscription
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    UltraEdit features an integrated FTP browser and supports syntax highlighting for hundreds of languages, with more always in the works. And with an integrated SSH/telnet client, scripting, custom tools, macros and Smart Templates, UltraEdit's ready for any coding session.
     

    • UltraEdit is the most popular commercial alternative to Windows Notepad.

    • UltraEdit is Paid and ProprietaryWindows Notepad is Free and Proprietary
  12. Leafpad icon

    Leafpad

     68 likes
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    Leafpad is a lightweight text editor that emphasizes simplicity. As development focuses on keeping weight down to a minimum, only the most essential features are implemented in the editor.

    103 Leafpad alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Cygwin
    • MacPorts
    Leafpad screenshot 1
     
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    2
    Comments about Leafpad as an Alternative to Windows Notepad
    ibn Muhammad
    Negative
    -1

    Leafpad is not a good alternative as it relies on the GTK library, unless you're looking for non-Windows apps, and you don't mind if the application has external dependencies.

    Guest
    Positive
    1

    Very similar to Windows Notepad.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Windows Notepad Icon
    Leafpad icon

    • Most users think Leafpad is a great Windows Notepad alternative.

    • Leafpad is Free and Open SourceWindows Notepad is Free and Proprietary
  13. Mousepad icon

    Mousepad

     35 likes
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    A simple text editor for the Xfce desktop environment. Mousepad aims to be an easy-to-use and fast editor for quickly editing text files, not a development environment or an editor with a huge bunch of plugins.

    78 Mousepad alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Flathub
    • Xfce
    Mousepad screenshot 1
     
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    2
    Comments about Mousepad as an Alternative to Windows Notepad
    danielmichel
    Positive
    0

    It really is Notepad for Linux.

    Mahdy Abdelmotaleb
    Positive
    0

    It's simple, minimalistic and stable.

    Windows Notepad Icon
    Mousepad icon
    • Mousepad is Free and Open SourceWindows Notepad is Free and Proprietary
  14. Xed icon

    Xed

     23 likes
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    A text editor forked from Pluma and Gedit. Xed is the default text editor of Linux Mint. It can be customized and is available in multiple languages.

    157 Xed alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Linux
    Xed screenshot 1
     
12 of 42 Windows Notepad alternatives