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Notepad++ is available in a 64-bit version in addition to a 32-bit version.

What benefits does the 64-bit version of Notepad++ have over the 32-bit version when running in Windows 7? What about in Windows 10?

I imagine one of the benefits is being able to load enormous, multi-gigabyte files. Is that correct? Are there other benefits?

EDIT 1: There seemed to be much interest in the release of a 64-bit version of Notepad++, but it's hard to imagine that so many people are using it to edit files over 4GB in size, even if multiple files are open. That made me wonder "What are all the advantages to the 64-bit version of Notepad++?".

EDIT 2: I don't think this is a duplicate of Other benefits of 64-bit OS apart from memory expansion? because I'm asking about specific benefits for this particular application. What makes this case even more curious is that, it's probably safe to say that a majority people don't need to edit more than 4GB of text at a time, and that the 64-bit version of Notepad++ has a major limitation (fewer plugins).

RockPaperLz- Mask it or Casket
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    don't know but note that can also try asking https://notepad-plus-plus.org/community/ – barlop Mar 07 '19 at 17:37
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    @barlop Thanks. I took a look at logging in to that site before posting here, but it appears they don't have a way to directly login. They force you to login using a third-party, most of which are social media sites. I'm not a fan of third-party logins. Am I missing something, or is that a requirement to post on their site? – RockPaperLz- Mask it or Casket Mar 07 '19 at 17:41
  • I would assume the same [slightly vague benefits as every other 64-bit program](https://superuser.com/questions/9112/other-benefits-of-64-bit-os-apart-from-memory-expansion) (also possible dupe) – Mokubai Mar 07 '19 at 17:51
  • One of the side benefits of running more and more 64-bit native programs is that there is a potential memory saving that will eventually happen. Currently when you have a 64 and 32 bit mix the system has to load both the 64 and 32 bit libraries that perform nearly the same function, so eventually we will reach a point where it is less and less likely to load the 32 bit version, thus saving some (probably relatively small) quantity of memory for other use. – Mokubai Mar 07 '19 at 18:00
  • @RockPaperLizard yeah but it's good to have some gmail accounts that give another name / don't give your name away. Then you'd be fine – barlop Mar 07 '19 at 18:00
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    @Mokubai Thanks for what you wrote. I agree completely, yet the amount of interest in a 64-bit version of Notepad++ seems disproportional to that benefit. – RockPaperLz- Mask it or Casket Mar 07 '19 at 18:05
  • Honestly, there are some people who get worked up about having a "clean" and "fully native" system and want everything to be 64-bit. There's the same kind of fervour regarding a 64-bit version of Steam, it's irrelevant that it works fine as is, has no need for large memory support and is not computationally expensive so the benefits are minimal at best... but [people want it](https://steamcommunity.com/groups/SteamClientBeta/discussions/1/828934089694687152/) for whatever vague reasons. Notepad++ at least has some (small) point in being able to open files >2GB... – Mokubai Mar 07 '19 at 18:07
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    @Mokubai I've seen lots of posts like that as well. At least in my experience, there is almost always at least one critical item (often software that came with a piece of hardware) that is 32-bit, which prevents a "truly" 64-bit system. – RockPaperLz- Mask it or Casket Mar 07 '19 at 18:11
  • @Ramhound I edited the question to explain why I don't think it's a duplicate, and added a little more information. – RockPaperLz- Mask it or Casket Mar 07 '19 at 18:21

3 Answers3

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The Show Stopper for 64-bit is: "check if all plugins you need are available for 64 bit". ref. - https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/topic/17356/change-from-32-bit-to-64-bit

As a longtime NotePad++ user, I have always chosen 32-bit to ensure a maximum selection of Plugins. I will, of course, review the list of plugins that don't work in 64-bit the next time I install NotePad++.

Jon Pearkins
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It's the same reason as any other 64 bit vs 32 bit program; it's able to use more RAM. Therefore a 64-bit version of Notepad++ is most likely able to open and handle bigger files, than the 32-bit version.

Same question on Notepad++ forum

Djensen
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    Are you serious? What is the size of a text file that a 32bit version wouldn't be able to handle? Where would text files of that size be used? – Alexey Aug 04 '21 at 11:29
  • For the average user, it probably isn't going to matter. But I have had a few use cases, where i had to load out data/dump data from a database and also view logfiles with a lot of data, and then check for something specific in those file. I can't remember if it was 100mb or several gigabytes, I just remember that most of my sophisticated editors crashed hard, when trying to open it. I'm not sure of the max capacity of Notepad++ in 32 bit, except, that its not able to use more than around 4gb of ram. 64bit is practically unlimited ram. Check here: https://stackoverflow.com/a/4077938/1016987 – Djensen Aug 05 '21 at 14:22
  • I also believe 64-bit programs can also run under later versions WinPE which doesn't have the WOW subsystem to support 32-bit programs. – LawrenceC Dec 01 '21 at 16:28
  • According to NPP community forums 32-bit NPP fails to open files larger than ~500MB. But even 64-bit NPP cannot open files larger than 2GB due to the limitation of the underlying text engine Scintilla. – Alex Che Nov 02 '22 at 12:14
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I too have had a few times where I needed to open huge log files or files created from a data extract from a database, and even Notepad++ 32 bits choked on it. In this day and age, I take the 64 bit version anytime over the 32 bit one. Myself, I don't use any plugins anyways, except for the "Compare" plugin which does what its name implies; it compares two files and marks the difference between the two. So, for me, I'll stick with the 64 bit version.

ZygD
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RFerreira.DBA
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    Interesting. How big were the log files? By "choked on it", do you mean crashed, became completely non-responsive, become laggy, or something else? – RockPaperLz- Mask it or Casket Dec 02 '21 at 06:42
  • @RockPaperLz-MaskitorCasket, Only now reading this question... If I remember correctly, a flat out error message from Notepad++ 32bits reading the file was too large to be opened by Notepad++. This was years ago, versions ago. Haven't used Notepad++ 32bits in years now... I would imagine the limitation still exists. And, big, as in many thousand records (lines of texts, "wide" as well). Mostly plain text files from a T-SQL query result straight from the DB. Logs were from an LMS I am a sysadmin for. I found the 32bit limit is ~2GB, and 64bits is ~8.2PBs, depending on system memory as well. R. – RFerreira.DBA Apr 09 '23 at 21:03