Notepad++ Portable

Every Notepad++ release ships portable packages alongside the installers. They contain the same editor; the difference is that nothing is written to Program Files or to the registry, so you can carry your setup between Windows PCs.

Which portable package to pick

• Portable (zip) — extracts with the built-in Windows unzip, no extra tool required.
• Portable (7z) — smaller download, needs 7-Zip or a compatible archiver.
• Mini-portable (7z) — a trimmed package without the bundled localizations and extra themes.

All three are listed, in x64, 32-bit and ARM64 variants, on the v8.9.8 release page.

How to run the portable version

1. Download the portable archive for your processor architecture.
2. Right-click the archive, choose Extract All, and pick a folder you can write to — a USB drive, a synced folder, or somewhere under your user profile.
3. Open the extracted folder and run notepad++.exe.
4. Optional: create doLocalConf.xml in the same folder to force configuration files to stay next to the program.

Portable or installer?

The installer is the better choice on your own PC: it registers file associations, adds the Start menu shortcut and the Edit with Notepad++ shell entry, and supports automatic updates. Choose portable when you lack administrator rights, work on a locked-down machine, or want to keep one configured copy on removable storage. See the installation guide for the installed route.

Updating a portable copy

Portable copies do not auto-update. Download the newer archive, extract it over the existing folder, and keep your config.xml and session.xml to preserve your settings and open tabs.

Portable questions