Lightweight Windows Notepad Alternatives for Windows

There are many alternatives to Windows Notepad for Windows if you are looking for a replacement. The best Windows alternative is Notepad++, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to Windows Notepad and many of them are available for Windows so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Windows alternatives to 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 Open Source, Windows + Free, Text Editors, Windows, 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. Notepad++ icon

    Notepad++

     4926 likes

    Notepad++ is a free, open-source code editor supporting several languages, offering features like syntax highlighting, plugin support, dark mode, portability, privacy, and efficient resource usage, making it highly customizable and suitable for various programming needs.

    248 Notepad++ alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • PortableApps.com
    Notepad++ screenshot 1
     
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    6
    Comments about Notepad++ as an Alternative to Windows Notepad
    Top Positive Comment
    linuxplayer
    0

    Good at everything, best text editor for Windows if you don't need a hands on IDE.

    Top Negative Comment
    Guest
    1

    Way too bloated if you're looking for something barebones like Notepad.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    jmNY68
    Positive
    1

    I like Notepad++, but it is focused on more of programming. I prefer a simpler UI layout and options.

    3 of 6 comments
    Notepad++ icon
    Notepad++ icon
    • Notepad++ is Free and Open SourceWindows Notepad is Free and Proprietary
    • Notepad++ is Privacy focusedWindows Notepad is not according to our users
  2. Sublime Text icon

    Sublime Text

     2044 likes

    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.

    192 Sublime Text alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    • Snapcraft
    Sublime Text screenshot 1
     
  4. Vim icon

    Vim

     1344 likes

    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.

    213 Vim alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

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

    Kate

     312 likes

    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.

    144 Kate alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

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

    gedit

     694 likes

    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.

    192 gedit alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Chrome OS
    • BSD
    • GNOME
    • OpenSolaris
    • Flathub
    The Default look under GNOME with Adwaita
     
  7. Notepad3 icon

    Notepad3

     63 likes

    Notepad3 is a fast and light-weight text editor with syntax highlighting for programming jobs. Auto-completion, Multi-language, Dark mode more.

    211 Notepad3 alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Windows
    Supports RTL languages out of the box.
     
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    3
    Comments about Notepad3 as an Alternative to Windows Notepad
    Noah Sean
    Positive
    2

    Lightweight, easy to use, and offers syntax highlighting.

    Xahkyen
    Positive
    4

    It's the best alternative that I was looking for: more powerful, while being lightweight, simply to use and full with useful features.

    jmNY68
    Positive
    0

    I tried Notepads and several other alternatives, looking for simple, lightweight app that had more features than Notepad and was less cluttered than Notepad++, as I am just using it to edit .txt files, not programming, markup, HTML or otherwise. This fits fairly well. Thanks, developers.

    Notepad3 icon
    Notepad3 icon
    • Notepad3 is Free and Open SourceWindows Notepad is Free and Proprietary
    • Notepad3 is Privacy focusedWindows Notepad is not according to our users
  9. GNU Emacs icon

    GNU Emacs

     387 likes

    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:

    181 GNU Emacs alternatives

    Cost / License

    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
     
  10. GNU nano icon

    GNU nano

     289 likes

    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.

    153 GNU nano alternatives

    Cost / License

    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.
    GNU nano icon
    GNU nano icon
    • GNU nano is Free and Open SourceWindows Notepad is Free and Proprietary
  11. Notepads icon

    Notepads

     46 likes

    Considering that most text editors are eather too heavy or look too old, the author came up with Notepads, designed to be a modern-looking UWP app.

    24 Notepads alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Windows
    Notepads screenshot 1
     
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    4
    Comments about Notepads as an Alternative to Windows Notepad
    Guest
    Negative
    -1

    35 MB is not lightweight, its 24 floppys or 18 Gameboy cartridges for a single app for notes

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    burakyak
    Positive
    2

    Windows should just implement this as new notepad...

    Wolf Icefang
    Positive
    2

    Notepads makes a real attempt to integrate with Windows 10 and work as a modern Notepad app. It installs from the Microsoft Store, it loads almost instantly, and it implements Fluent Design elements. This app made such a good first impression that I've already uninstalled Microsoft's built in Notepad app. It may not be the "best text editor", but it is the best alternative for Windows 10's Notepad.

    3 of 4 comments
    Notepads icon
    Notepads icon
    • Notepads is Free and Open SourceWindows Notepad is Free and Proprietary
    • Notepads is Privacy focusedWindows Notepad is not according to our users
  12. Notepad2 icon

    Notepad2

     291 likes

    Notepad2 is a fast and light-weight Windows Notepad like text editor with syntax highlighting. Simple as possible, but yet powerful. Has full Unicode support. Can be run out of the box without installation, and does not touch your system's...

    118 Notepad2 alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • PortableApps.com
    Notepad2 screenshot 1
     
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    2
    Comments about Notepad2 as an Alternative to Windows Notepad
    Guest
    Positive
    1

    Just one file, but powerfull.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Guest
    Positive
    0

    Does what it should do, while not using much space. So sad it is discontinued... :-(

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Notepad2 icon
    Notepad2 icon
    • Notepad2 is Free and Open SourceWindows Notepad is Free and Proprietary
  14. PSPad icon

    PSPad

     204 likes

    PSPad is a freeware programmers editor in 8 languages for Microsoft Windows operating systems. Some features are highlighted syntax, ftp, projects and so on. Code explorer for Pascal, C/C++, INI, HTML, XML, PHP and more in development, internal web browser with APACHE support.

    172 PSPad alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Windows
    Main Window - Project Settings
     
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    2
    Comments about PSPad as an Alternative to Windows Notepad
    hCommon
    0

    Saying 11 MB is large is like saying you use a single gameboy cartridge for your main computer syorage

    Guest
    Negative
    -2

    11 MB is not lightweight for an editor. It's like saying: You need 763 full pages in A4 to write the word "hello".

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    PSPad icon
    PSPad icon
    • PSPad is Free and ProprietaryWindows Notepad is also Free and Proprietary
12 of 30 Windows Notepad alternatives