Disable auto-update in Notepad++

Question

Is it possible to configure Notepad++ to stop checking for new versions each time it is run?

Every time Nodepad++ is started a dialog pops with:

An update package is available, do you want to download it?

I wonder why so many people find notepad++ settings so complicated. +100 — sɐunıɔןɐqɐp, Dec 25 '20 at 14:07
Why in the world does a notepad editor need an update every day in the first place? :D — Matthias Luh, May 13 '22 at 17:05

score 126 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 20 '10 at 04:12

126

Simply go to:

Settings -> Preferences -> Misc -> and deselect "Enable Notepad++ auto-updater"

edited Apr 20 '10 at 04:12

Jared Harley

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answered Apr 18 '10 at 19:32

Marcos Placona

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This is an incorrect answer because this feature was removed from Notepad++ and it has not returned for at least 5 years. I can confirm that what @JamesGecko wrote is still the case. – vincent gravitas May 11 '15 at 22:51
2

@Apelsin It exists in Notepad++ 6.7.7 on Windows. – Andrew Morton May 17 '15 at 18:37
@AndrewMorton: weird - I don't see it in the same version, also on Windows. – Per Lundberg Jan 15 '16 at 07:59
3

v6.9 has this feature, I just disable auto updates by following the steps provided in this answer. – birgersp Mar 30 '16 at 06:24
Would be good if there was a way to just get silent updates without the prompt like Chrome etc. does. – Simon D Mar 31 '16 at 10:50
2

@SimonD Chrome installs a service to do the auto-update as the browser runs with user credentials but the service runs with the required install privilege. I think every program installing a service to provide auto-update functionality is a bit of overkill and would prefer it in as few programs as possible. – Shiv Aug 02 '16 at 23:45
1

@Shiv, fair enough - we have different preferences here. We have notepad++ running on servers where users can't update so you get an annoying message every time you load it which you can't do anything about until IT fixes it. Making it non-modal would be a start. – Simon D Aug 04 '16 at 02:22
2

@SimonD I would say being able to roll Notepad++ out with the autoupdate feature turned off and pushing out updates via AD would be better. Autoupdate nag is really bad for a text editor - only web facing things like Flash or browsers should do it. – Shiv Aug 04 '16 at 05:02
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This setting doesn't work for me in 7.5.9 – rusty Apr 19 '19 at 14:51
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Doesn't work for me either. I have 7.6.3 and this setting is unticked, however I still get this prompt every time I start Notepad++. – Matt Jun 21 '19 at 03:42
If the checkbox is there but doesn't work, that sounds like a bug, you should probably report it to them instead of posting here. – Chris Aug 12 '19 at 17:38
I see the setting in v.7.7 64-bit Windows. I hope the setting actually works? It is quite annoying for me as a user to see this constantly. – atom88 Mar 02 '20 at 20:59
May 2020, Windows 10, Notepad++ v7.8.1. Worked for me. – Stephen Hosking May 30 '20 at 11:37
3

@Matt It seem [this bug](https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/issues/5375) was fixed in 7.8.5. Not an option to upgrade for me though since I don't have permissions. But you can [change the `updateDate`](https://superuser.com/a/1560250/101363) as a workaround. – Didier L Aug 20 '20 at 09:26

score 63 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 18 '10 at 19:55

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You may also be looking to turn off plugin update checking, in which case go to:

Plugins -> Plugin Manager -> Show Plugin Manager -> Settings (bottom left), and deselect "Notify of plugin updates at startup".

answered Apr 18 '10 at 19:55

wersimmon

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God this has been bothering me so much, every gd time I open it. Thanks! – gakera Mar 10 '15 at 11:11
I swear, I love Notepad++ more than anything, it's the one app I miss most on Linux but this guy REALLY needs some UX help :D Thanks for showing me how to disable that!! – Tobias J Mar 29 '17 at 13:57
UX is like 90% of Notepad++... – Andrew Dec 12 '17 at 13:00
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at least from N++ v 7.6.6 (Apr 2019) there's no more "plugin manager", but "plugin admin", and there's no more an option to turn off plugin updates notififactions. – BitQuestions Jun 16 '19 at 14:33
It's disabled but still shows "an update is available for the package download it" – Shayan Jun 25 '20 at 13:08

score 50 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 26 '12 at 16:23

50

In newer versions of Notepad++ the option to disable automatic updating no longer appears in the Options dialog.

You can simply rename the C:\Program Files\Notepad++\updater directory to stop this feature. (e.g. rename it to updater_disabled)

Credit to http://wpkg.org/Notepad_plus_plus for suggesting the solution.

answered Sep 26 '12 at 16:23

lessthanideal

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Excellent! I used your answer to disable updates in a computer lab, looping through them with PsExec like so `psexec \\lab315-%x cmd.exe /c ren "c:\Program Files (x86)\Notepad++\updater" "updater_disable"` – ThisClark Jan 20 '15 at 19:12
Thank you, finally a correct answer! – Mike Aug 10 '20 at 09:56
This worked for me. Thanks! – Nate Sauber Apr 14 '21 at 12:50
This is the answer most people here are looking for. – CodeOrElse Aug 09 '21 at 13:35

score 10 · Answer 4 · edited May 30 '19 at 11:49

Find and edit this file

C:\Users\\...User...\AppData\Roaming\Notepad++\config.xml

where ...User... is your username.

Find the line that reads something like this:

<GUIConfig name="noUpdate" intervalDays="15" nextUpdateDate="20141114">no</GUIConfig>

and change the 'no' to a 'yes'. In effect, you're telling Notepad++ that 'yes, you want no updates'.

Another line I've changed is this one:

<GUIConfig name="RememberLastSession">no</GUIConfig>

where I've changed the default 'yes' to a 'no'.

It infuriated me that Notepad++ opened pretty much evey file I'd ever opened, every time I started it, long after I'd lost any interest in any of those files.

I don't know why Notepad++ shows options in its preferences dialog when clearly it just ignores them.

You might also have a look at EditPadLite (free) and/or EditPadPro (not free, but not too expensive). Certainly better looking, better documented, and the 'lite' version has all I need.

For me it was already set to "yes" but I was able to get rid of the message by setting nextUpdateDate to 99990101 — 2012rcampion, Jan 22 '20 at 21:17

score 6 · Answer 5 · answered Oct 21 '11 at 00:51

6

While installing the application,

Notepad++ Setup - Choose components Dialog- Select the type of Install - Deselect the Auto-Updater check box.

answered Oct 21 '11 at 00:51

thriyampagan

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Unfortunately that's not a lot of use for people who are already getting the prompt, like me, and the person who asked the question. – Matt Jun 21 '19 at 03:44

score 4 · Answer 6 · answered Mar 08 '18 at 15:42

Expanding on existing answers, here's my method for programmatically updating this:

# Note:
# - Notepad++ must be closed when you run this because when Notepad++ does its closing process, it re-writes the config.xml file with the config from memory
# - This script only updates one user profile, the current user's

$Path = "C:\Users\$($env:username)\AppData\Roaming\Notepad++\config.xml"

# Disable auto-checking for updates
(Get-Content $Path | Out-String) -Replace '(.*noUpdate.*)no</GUIConfig>', '$1yes</GUIConfig>' | Out-File $Path

# To re-enable auto-checking for updates
(Get-Content $Path | Out-String) -Replace '(.*noUpdate.*)yes</GUIConfig>', '$1no</GUIConfig>' | Out-File $Path

score 3 · Answer 7 · answered Jun 12 '20 at 18:13

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Open %appdata%\Notepad++ folder.

Edit config.xml with a program besides Notepad++.

Change the noUpdate settings to have a very long nextUpdateDate:

<GUIConfig name="noUpdate" intervalDays="365" nextUpdateDate="21001231">yes</GUIConfig>

Save the config.xml.

@2012rcampion made this comment above.

answered Jun 12 '20 at 18:13

axus

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Only thing that worked for me. I am in a corporate environment and I don't have the permissions to update it so this was very annoying. Seems to be [a bug](https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/issues/5375) in the version we are using. – Didier L Aug 20 '20 at 09:24

score 2 · Answer 8 · answered Jul 06 '18 at 13:56

If you have updates pending (you can start an update without admin), but are unable to complete them (because you don't have admin), you will get an annoying message each time you open it, asking you to complete the update.

You can make this go away by deleting %appdata%\Notepad++\plugins\Config\PluginManagerGpUp.xml. This will also delete the plugin_install_temp folder which contains the updates, when you next run it.

score 2 · Answer 9 · answered Jan 14 '19 at 14:49

Regarding the renaming of the directory C:\Program Files\Notepad++\updater to something else (updater_disabled), I can confirm that for the latest Notepad++ Version 7.6.2 (Yellow Vests edition), this would disable also the tab Plugins admin. Anyway users need admin rights to install plugins, but it is a new functionality that gets knocked-out.

score 2 · Answer 10 · edited Feb 20 '19 at 19:13

2

I just created a simple Preferences>Windows Settings>Files that deletes the files in the updater folder.

edited Feb 20 '19 at 19:13

Ramhound

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answered Feb 20 '19 at 18:49

onefiscus

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score 1 · Answer 11 · answered Feb 04 '20 at 17:34

Regarding the renaming of the directory updater, you may have to kill the process GUP.exe, since it sometimes keeps running after closing Notepad++.

I guess Plugins Admin is a replacement to Plugin Manager, hence the older answer no longer applies.

I hope smart kettles won't become the norm... it would be hell if I'd have to see an update prompt or get a mandatory update every time I decide to make tea.

EricSP · Answer 12 · 2020-03-26T14:03:13.040

INSTALL

CALL uninstall.cmd

setup.exe /S

"%WinDir%\System32\timeout.exe" /T 10

REM Install Plugins.
MKDIR "%ProgramFiles%\Notepad++\plugins\JSMinNPP"
COPY /Y /V "Plugins\JSToolNPP.1.1901.2.uni.64\JSMinNPP.dll" "%ProgramFiles%\Notepad++\plugins\JSMinNPP"\.

MKDIR "%ProgramFiles%\Notepad++\plugins\ComparePlugin"
COPY /Y /V "Plugins\ComparePlugin\"* "%ProgramFiles%\Notepad++\plugins\ComparePlugin"\.

MKDIR "%ProgramFiles%\Notepad++\plugins\NppTextFX"
COPY /Y /V "Plugins\NppTextFX\"* "%ProgramFiles%\Notepad++\plugins\NppTextFX"\.

IF EXIST "%ProgramFiles%\Notepad++\plugins\JSMinNPP.dll" (
    DEL /F /S /Q "%ProgramFiles%\Notepad++\plugins\JSMinNPP.dll"
)

"%WinDir%\System32\timeout.exe" /T 30

IF EXIST "%ProgramFiles%\Notepad++\updater" (
    RMDIR /S /Q "%ProgramFiles%\Notepad++\updater"
)

"%WinDir%\System32\timeout.exe" /T 60

EXIT /B

UNINSTALL

IF EXIST "%ProgramFiles%\Notepad++ (
    TASKKILL /F /IM notepad++* /T

    REM Delete Custom Plugins
    IF EXIST "%ProgramFiles%\Notepad++\plugins" (RMDIR /S /Q "%ProgramFiles%\Notepad++\plugins")

    IF EXIST "%ProgramFiles%\Notepad++\Uninstall.exe" (
        "%ProgramFiles%\Notepad++\Uninstall.exe" /S
        "%WinDir%\System32\timeout.exe" /T 30
    )
)

EXIT /B

REPAIR

CALL uninstall.cmd
CALL install.cmd
EXIT /B

The above script sample installs the tool with custom plugins and disables the auto update nag, admins can still push plugins to a directory if and when needed. This installer is used in a SCCM controlled environment.

Mind you the above does a clean install every single time for consistency.

score 0 · Answer 13 · answered Mar 31 '21 at 13:56

0

With newer versions just use "/S /noUpdater" as install arguments

answered Mar 31 '21 at 13:56

John

1

Do you know what version this was implemented in? – music2myear Mar 31 '21 at 21:28

Disable auto-update in Notepad++

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