How to open big files in Notepad++ (Complete Guide)

Introduced in 2003, Notepad++ is the most widely used text and code editor in Windows. Written in C++, it is often used to open files that cannot be opened easily.

It is distributed as a free software and was a huge hit when it was launched. It is mainly used as a source code editor and it also supports tabbed editing.

This article will take a look at a step-by-step process of opening big files in Notepad++ and also other relevant information about Notepad++, that will make it easy for you to use the software.

When does Notepad++ come into the scene?

The Windows Notepad was introduced way back in 1983 and was a simple text editor. It received huge acclaim and was a booming success.

This led to the launch of the Notepad++ in 2003, with modified capabilities and it can do a list of things and these set it apart from other such programs or software. Let us take a look at these things.

• It can open various different files, even if they have varying language settings.
• The user interface can be customised completely by the user according to his or her wishes.
• It allows tabbed editing.
• If you have written text messages that relate to your work, you can choose to save them.
• It is more advanced than Notepad and can be used to open large files as well.
• It is easy to edit the code as the code syntax gets highlighted when you save the file with a specific format.

The biggest file that Notepad++ can open

Notepad++ is a step above Notepad and is able to open files that are too big for Notepad. The file size limit of Notepad is 512 megabytes, while that of Notepad++ is 2 gigabytes.

The biggest reason for this upgrade is the fact that Notepad++ is powered by Scintilla, which is one of the core components of the program and is also responsible for the high-quality display of the texts.

Notepad++ also uses four times the memory space of the size of the file. This enables users to enjoy the advanced features to their fullest extent.

For example, a file with a size of 1 gigabyte will enable the program to take up 4 gigabytes of space. RAM space plays a major role in the proper functioning of the program.

In case of large files, you might come across some problems, but these can be bypassed easily by following a few steps.

Opening a large file using Notepad++

As mentioned earlier, RAM space plays an important role in the proper functioning of Notepad++ and thus, it is suggested that the user use a system optimization tool to clean the memory of clutter.

Let us look at the steps to open a large file in Notepad++.

• Cleave the large text file into smaller files

Notepad++ becomes problematic when it has to deal with files that are larger than 2 gigabytes. However, this can be handled easily by using a software to split the file into smaller chunks.

However, in some cases, this affects the performance of the computer. To sidetrack this problem, you may disable syntax highlighting, clickable links and also plugins to scan and analyze text. These can be done by the following steps.

1. First, you need to launch the Notepad++ application.
2. You will see the Plugins tab on the right end of your screen. From the Plugins option, select Plugin Admin.
3. You will now come across the Installed tab. Here, check each plugin.
4. Now, you can use the Remove option to delete the desired ones.
5. Syntax highlighting slows down and hampers the performance of the software, and thus, to stop this, you need to select the Language option.
6. Next, you need to right-click on the option titled as N.
7. You will now come across a pop-up menu. From this menu, select the Normal text configuration. This will disable the text highlighting feature.
8. Now, go to the Settings tab and select Preferences. This will lead you to disable hyperlinks.
9. From the left side, select the MISC tab.
10. In the last and final step, uncheck Enable in the Clickable Links Section.

• Use a browser app – You may also use a browser to open the file because, in that case, size will not be an issue. You can use one from the large number of web browsers that support rich text, editing, and auto folding.

You do not need to install anything new or sign up to a new website. All you have to do is drag the text on the browser and your job will be done in a jiffy.

More about Notepad++

Distributed as a free software, Notepad++ was initially released about a couple of decades ago. It has a stable release much later on, only a few days ago, in late December, 2022.

It is written in C++ and is compatible with Windows. It is available in 90 different languages including English, Hindi, French and German.

Packed with more advanced features than Notepad, Notepad++ can work with bigger files and has a very user-friendly interface. It can readily highlight the elements of 78 syntaxes and also recognizes three different newline representations.

Other features of Notepad++ include:

• You can search for text strings within open tabs.
• Notepad++ also has guided indentation.
• The program also supports tabbed document interface.
• Notepad++ allows simultaneous editing.
• Line bookmarking.
• For workaholics, it also has the autosave feature.
• On Notepad++, you can search text strings in a directory.
• It allows split screen editing and synchronised editing as well.
• Notepad++ can also perform line operations such as case conversion and sorting.

It can also convert texts into the following languages:

1. UCS-2
2. ASCII
3. UTF-8

Thus, it is packed with a lot of amazing features and it also supports macros and plugins. It has a very flexible yet robust plugin architecture that helps it to incorporate new features or updates.

Why should I use Notepad++?

Notepad++ is considered as the best free text editor out there. There are certains reasons why it has come to be regarded as so. Let us take a close look at these reasons.

• Notepad++ is an open source text editing software.
• Notepad++ is free to use.
• Notepad++ has been acclaimed for its simple and simple user-friendly interface.

Conclusion

Thus, Notepad++ can open all large text files as long as they are within the 2 gigabytes limit. It is highly useful if you are trying to edit a text file or open one of a large size.

It has a large number of features that make it advantageous for users a d this has led to its widespread popularity.