How to install NotePad++ on Linux
Notepad++ is one of the most popular text editors on Windows. It’s not hard to see why, as the application has a lot of impressive features, supports multiple programming languages, and more.
Sadly, the developers have no plans to write a native, Linux version of the Notepad++ app. Fortunately, thanks to tools like Wine and Snap packages, getting it the Windows release of Notepad++ working on Linux is easier than ever.
Method 1 – Snap packages
NotePad++ is a Windows application, and the code base will never be translated to native Linux code. So, if you’re a fan of the app, you’ll likely never see it styled in your favorite GTK+ theme. That said, the developers have teamed up with the people behind Ubuntu to release the app on the Snap store.
Let’s be clear, the NotePad++ Snap store version of the app is still the Windows one you can download from the web. However, it comes pre-packaged with a great Wine setup that should allow nearly anyone to run NotePad++ on Linux with incredible ease.
Enabling Snap packages
Before we can install NotePad++ from the Snap store, we must go over how to enable Snaps on Linux. Thankfully, it’s an easy process, because almost all modern Linux operating systems today support the packaging format.
To enable Snaps on your system, open up a terminal, search for “snapd” and install it as you’d typically install programs. Alternatively, if you’re having some issues figuring it out on your own, do yourself a favor and follow our in-depth tutorial on how to enable Snaps on Linux. Or, install Ubuntu Linux, where the Snap system is set up by default!
Installing NotePad++ via Snap
Now that the Snapd runtime is up and running on your Linux PC, you have access to the Snap package store. From here, you can use the snap install command to grab the latest release of NotePad++ on Linux!
sudo snap install notepad-plus-plus
Don’t want to use the terminal? Check Gnome Software or KDE Discover for “Notepad++” and install it that way instead!
Method 2 – Wine
While it’s fantastic that the developers of NotePad++ have placed their application in Ubuntu’s Snap store, not everyone can install Snaps, because some lesser-known distributions don’t support it. For this reason, we’re going to go over how to get it working with Wine on Linux manually.
Installing Wine
Running NotePad++ on Linux will require Wine. Specifically, the absolute latest stable release, as the new patches significantly improve how Wine runs Windows software.
On pretty much all modern Linux OSes, Wine 4 is starting to become standard, so, open up a terminal window, search for “wine” and install it how you typically would install things on your PC. Or, if you need some guidance, follow our tutorial to learn how to get Wine 4 running on Linux!
Getting NotePad++ working via Wine
Wine is taken care of, so now it is time to download the latest release of NotePad++ for Windows. To do this, open up a terminal by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T or Ctrl + Shift + T on the keyboard. Then, use wget to download.
wget https://notepad-plus-plus.org/repository/7.x/7.7/npp.7.7.Installer.x64.exe
When the wget tool is done downloading the installation tool, start up the installation in Wine with:
wine npp.7.7.Installer.x64.exe
Go through the on-screen prompts to install the app to your Linux PC. When done, it’ll show up in the “Wine” menu in your application launcher.
Method 3 – NotePadQQ
Running NotePad++ on Linux thanks to Wine and Snap packages is excellent. Still, you may have issues getting it to run with these methods. That’s why it’s fantastic that the Linux community has made a clone of the app known as NotePadQQ.
NotePadQQ is available to a handful of Linux distributions via software repositories. To install it, open up a terminal window with Ctrl + Alt + T or Ctrl + Shift + T and follow the instructions that correspond with the Linux OS you use.
Ubuntu/Debian
Both Ubuntu and Debian do not distribute NotePadQQ in their software repositories. If you’d like to use NotePadQQ on your Ubuntu or Debian setup, consider following the Snap or Flatpak instructions instead.
Arch Linux
Ensure you have “Community” enabled in your /etc/pacman.conf file. Then, run the following command.
sudo pacman -S notepadqq
Fedora
Ever since Fedora 29, the Fedora project has made it easy to install NotePadQQ. To get it working on your system, run:
sudo dnf install notepadqq -y
OpenSUSE
On SUSE, NotePadQQ is available in the “Oss All” software repository. To install it, run:
sudo zypper install notepadqq
Snap
To install NotePadQQ via Snap, ensure you have the Snap runtime enabled on your Linux PC. Then, run the snap install command below.
sudo snap install notepadqq
Flatpak
To get the Flatpak release of NotePadQQ working, make sure you have the Flatpak runtime working. Then, install the app with the commands below.
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo flatpak install flathub com.notepadqq.Notepadqq
