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I am trying to portabilize every program I use if possible, and Notepad++ is on the list. The only problem is that I've had a native installation until now so that I'm not totally sure which settings files need to be moved to the portable directory.

Surely there's a function tucked away somewhere in NPP exactly for this purpose, or some plugin out there? I mean the developers have literally thought of everything else, yet this is the one thing I cannot find specifically anywhere in the NPP wiki or otherwise, and I don't want to miss an important file.

Here is the closest I've gotten: Notepad++'s configuration files and Where are all the files?

Should I just copy every configuration file listed on the first link?

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  • They have NotePad++ for PortableApps: portableapps.com/apps/development/notepadpp_portable
    – icc97
    Commented Jan 9, 2014 at 14:00
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    Those links are both dead.
    – John Fouhy
    Commented Mar 17, 2015 at 23:38
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    @NoCartharsis, Why not simply download the portable Notepad++?
    – Pacerier
    Commented Jun 18, 2015 at 23:07
  • Latest version of npp from Git has portable versions that work fine. To use the largest set of plugins, simply choose the 32 bit version of npp and download one of the portable Zip versions. Npp Plugins (download each from Git) do NOT need to be installed through the tool and may be emplaced correctly with the base plugin name and dll in the plugins folder The behavior for usage of %appdata%\Notepad++ is governed by the presence of local file called "doLocalConf.xml" in the distro. Rename it if you want to reuse settings from %appdata% with your portable npp version.
    – John C
    Commented Dec 3, 2020 at 17:20

7 Answers 7

Reset to default
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I found the configuration files under
%appdata%\Notepad++.

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  • 5
    This is the same as %APPDATA%\Notepad++. As from the configuration files link in the question: "Those xml files (except doLocalConf.xml and asNotepad.xml which should be always in Notepad++ Install Folder, and langs.xml, which must be in %APPDATA%\Notepad++\ under Windows Vista or 7) are loaded from %AppData%\Notepad++ or Notepad++.exe's own folder, it depends respectively on the absence or presence of doLocalConf.xml in Notepad++.exe's folder."
    – icc97
    Commented Nov 1, 2012 at 9:09
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    Unfortunately not all plugins store its config in %APPDATA\Notepad++ directory (e.g. QuickText).
    – Adam Ryczkowski
    Commented Jan 27, 2013 at 11:27
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Many settings in NP++ can be automatically kept in sync (and migrated) between multiple instances by using Settings > Preferences > Cloud

Preferences > Cloud

The first time you set a cloud location (which can just be any folder path), it'll backup your current settings into that folder and then draw from there going forward. When setting the cloud location on a new machine, it'll read in those files there.

The cloud settings consists of the following items:

Cloud Settings
Note: You might need to remove the existing files with the same name under %appdata%\Notepad++. in order for the cloud storage files to take priority

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  • 1
    This solution worked the best for me. I saved the settings from my laptop (which I consider to be the "primary copy" of the settings) to a shared network drive. For each instance of Notepad++ on a network server I remoted into the server, started NPP and specified the same share folder. All the other instances copied the settings. I would like to know what happens if I change a setting on one of the servers. Does it get propagated "back" to my laptop? Also what happens if I change a setting on my laptop? Will that change get propagated "down" to all the servers?
    – mnemotronic
    Commented May 15, 2023 at 0:20
  • Like this solution. But I wouldn't recommend saving the settings to a network drive. If the server eventually gets disconnected, your settings will become unavailable. It's better to use a local folder synced with a cloud like dropbox, onedrive, box.cox, onecloud, etc. Then the files are automatically synced between all your computers, and you always have an access you them.
    – yuk
    Commented Jun 6, 2023 at 19:11
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You have already found the full list of Notepad++'s configuration files. If I were you, first I would copy the whole Notepad++ folder under the Program Files, and save it for some time. Then I'd start to use all the files listed on the NPP page, and after making sure everything's OK, I'd delete the backup.

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  • It is not among best practices to backup program together with its config - think viruses.
    – Adam Ryczkowski
    Commented Jan 27, 2013 at 11:23
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    But the alternative (cherry-picking the needed config files) has also flaw: if one install yet another plugin, he would need to update the backup configuration to include a bunch of new config files that apply to that plugin.
    – Adam Ryczkowski
    Commented Jan 27, 2013 at 11:26
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For those who are migrating from Windows XP (yes, I know this is 2012) you can find these files in:

C:\Documents and Settings\[User Name]\Application Data\Notepad++\
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I just did this. Had to copy both folders below to get everything

C:\Program Files (x86)\Notepad++
C:\Users\"User_name"\AppData\Roaming\Notepad++
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  • Do you just copy-paste everything in both folders into the corresponding folders in the new installation?
    – user1655234
    Commented Feb 5, 2023 at 2:22
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About specific points:

  • To save/restore the changed made through Style Configurator:

    If you modify the default theme, then the changes are saved in %APPDATA%\Notepad++\stylers.xml, if you changed another theme (like choco), then the changes ares saved in %APPDATA%\Notepad++\themes\choco.xml You will also find the stylers.xml and the choco.xml in the installation folder (e.g. C:\Program Files (x86)) but these ones are used to restore default.

  • To save/restore your plugins:

    Apparently you can only backup the plugins you have installed manually (by dropping them into the plugin folder). You need to reinstall the plugins using the plugin manager.

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It's now under C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Notepad++

Just make a backup copy of the entire folder and keep at safe place to copy-restore in case the settings went back to original.

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