When using Notepad++ to view text files that also contain some lower ASCII control characters (such as NUL, BEL, and ACK), it shows every lower ASCII character in brackets like this:
[NUL][BEL][ACK]
Is it possible to have it automatically replace lower (non-displayable) ASCII characters as blank spaces, or simply strip them out?
Update: What I'm after is to use Notepad++ as a tool to view the visible ASCII (or Unicode) characters any file. It's fast and can load files of almost any size. When I have a file of unknown contents, it's rather ideal. With it's extensive language formatting, if the file is of a recognizable language, it will format it perfectly. If it's plain text, it will show it perfectly. The challenge comes in when a file has plain text mixed with lower ASCII characters. The automatic conversion of all those characters to the [XYZ] format makes viewing the file very difficult. I'm looking for a way to avoid that automatic conversion so the files are easier to view.
Best Answer
You can use the RegEx pattern:
To remove all low ASCII chars: