Free and open source. Every release is published on GitHub, and all three Windows downloads install for the current user with no admin rights.
The recommended choice. Adds npad to your PATH and to “Open with”. File associations (text files ticked by default, the rest optional), the notepad alias (ticked by default) and the bundled fonts are choices in setup.
npad-v<version>-setup-win-x64.exeSilent install: /VERYSILENT
For managed and silent deployment.
msiexec /i npad-v<version>-msi-win-x64.msi /qnAdd ALLUSERS=1 for a machine-wide install.
Download and run it from anywhere. No installation required.
npad-v<version>-portable-win-x64.exeChoose the file for your platform on the release page. File names include the version number, so the button takes you to the latest release and its asset list.
SmartScreen warning? Releases are code-signed (check Properties → Digital Signatures), but Microsoft SmartScreen builds a publisher’s reputation over time and may still warn. Right-click the downloaded file, choose Properties, tick Unblock and click Apply (or choose “More info” then “Run anyway”). To check the download, compare its SHA-256 with CHECKSUMS.txt on the release page. Full details are in the installation reference (opens in a new tab).
The GTK 3 desktop build, one binary for X11 and Wayland, first released in v0.34.0. Editing, open and save with each file’s encoding and line endings kept, Find / Replace / Go To and printing are in. Preferences, the font picker and the Markdown tools are still being ported. There is no update checker on Linux by design: updates arrive through apt or dnf with the rest of your system. Follow progress in LINUX_PORT.md (opens in a new tab).
Debian 12 and 13, Ubuntu 22.04 and newer, Mint 21 and newer, LMDE. The repository at pkg.npad.dev is signed with the npad packaging key, and npad then updates with the rest of your system.
sudo install -d -m 0755 /etc/apt/keyrings
sudo curl -fsSL https://pkg.npad.dev/npad.asc -o /etc/apt/keyrings/npad.asc
sudo curl -fsSL https://pkg.npad.dev/npad.sources -o /etc/apt/sources.list.d/npad.sources
sudo apt update && sudo apt install npadOr let one script set up whichever of apt or dnf you have: curl -fsSL https://pkg.npad.dev/install.sh | sudo sh
The same signed repository serves the RPM:
sudo curl -fsSL https://pkg.npad.dev/npad.repo -o /etc/yum.repos.d/npad.repo
sudo dnf install npadEvery release also attaches the packages themselves: sudo apt install ./npad_<version>_amd64.deb or sudo dnf install ./npad-<version>-1.x86_64.rpm. These do not update themselves.
npad is plain C on native platform APIs with no dependencies beyond system libraries. You need a C compiler and make; the Linux build also needs pkg-config and the GTK 3 development files.
git clone https://github.com/platima/npad.git
cd npad
make windows # Windows x64 with MinGW-w64 (cross or native)
make linux-gtk # Linux GTK 3 build, produces ./npad-linux
make test # unit testsSee the build instructions (opens in a new tab) and CONTRIBUTING.md (opens in a new tab).