Notepad++ doesn’t launch (notepad++.exe present in the task manager)

notepadxml

Yesterday Notepad++ was runnable, but today it doesn't. In spite of the notepad++.exe (with its 13 process) presence is the tasks manager, Notepad++ window doesn't launch.

I tried to uninstall and re-install the sofware (and the first launch works), notepad.exe is present in C:\Windows and C:\Windows\Sytem32 folders.

The last file opened with notepad++ was a xml file which isn't readable by other softwares because of the following error message :

The '<' caracter can not be used in a value attribut

What can I do please ?

Best Answer

Try removing the file from C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Notepad++\session.xml which reopens the file when you start the program.

If that does not work, maybe you should try a complete uninstall/reinstall if you haven't already.

EDIT: Workaround found (thanks to sgmoore): Install standalone version of Notepad++ (notepad++ portable).

Related Solutions

How to set the default language in Notepad++

In Notepad++ open the Preferences dialog box by clicking on Settings -> Preferences click on the New Document/Default Directory tab and change the Default Language to XML.

Notepad++ Preferences

EDIT: Just saw that you wanted it to apply to .config files as well. This can be done but you'll need to do it for every extension you want to override. Click on Settings -> Style Configurator scroll down to XML in the language section and add config to the User ext box. Save & Close and any new .config file opened will show up as XML. In fact, I've already done that for my installation as seen below:

Style Configurator

How to launch a program from Notepad++

First close Notepad++, then find the file shortcuts.xml, usually in:

Windows 7/8/10: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Notepad++
Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Notepad++

Open it up with something other than Notepad++ (perhaps notepad.exe) and add something like this to the file within the <UserDefinedCommands></UserDefinedCommands> tags:

<Command name="Launch file" Ctrl="yes" Alt="yes" Shift="yes" Key="">&quot;$(FULL_CURRENT_PATH)&quot;</Command>

That will launch the (saved) file with its default application.

Save the changes and then load up Notepad++ to see your new entries in the Run menu.

Important: do not edit shortcuts.xml with Notepad++ itself as the shortcuts.xml file is overwritten when the program shuts down (overwriting any changes you made).

Best Answer

Related Solutions

How to set the default language in Notepad++

How to launch a program from Notepad++

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