Notepad++ replacement for mac

Tythus · 4 Aug 2023 at 08:03

I love Notepad++ on windows, but I can't find anything that fits the same niche it filled on Mac. I know you can do some wine hax to get it running, but I want a real mac supported program any ideas?

Feek · 4 Aug 2023 at 08:09

I don't really know what Notepad++ brings over Notepad but there are many text wrangling programs for the Mac. I use TextMate (it's free), BBEdit is another popular one (which isn't free if you want full functionality) and I'm sure there are loads of others.

tom_e · 4 Aug 2023 at 08:25

Feek said:
I don't really know what Notepad++ brings over Notepad but there are many text wrangling programs for the Mac. I use TextMate (it's free), BBEdit is another popular one (which isn't free if you want full functionality) and I'm sure there are loads of others.

The only similarity between Notepad and Notepad++ is that they open text files. Other than that they're effectively totally different things. Notepad++ has syntax highlighting, CR/LF viewing, text comparison, tabbed viewing, macros, plugins, checksum generation and many other things.

ChrisD. · 4 Aug 2023 at 08:36

I use Visual Studio Code, as do most developers I work with who use macOS.

Feek · 4 Aug 2023 at 08:39

tom_e said:
The only similarity between Notepad and Notepad++ is that they open text files. Other than that they're effectively totally different things. Notepad++ has syntax highlighting, CR/LF viewing, text comparison, tabbed viewing, macros, plugins, checksum generation and many other things.

I think that’s the sort of thing TextMate does as well.

TextMate: Text editor for macOS

macromates.com

picnic · 4 Aug 2023 at 08:51

ChrisD. said:
I use Visual Studio Code, as do most developers I work with who use macOS.

Same here and as it's supported on Windows/Linux too I can hop between environments more seamlessly.

Hutch · 4 Aug 2023 at 09:03

Another vote for vscode here

Are there any specific notepad++ features you need?

Feek · 4 Aug 2023 at 09:26

ChrisD. said:
I use Visual Studio Code, as do most developers I work with who use macOS.

Looks like this is the way to go

visibleman · 4 Aug 2023 at 12:03

Another vote for VSCode and BBEdit, and both are my go-to editors.

Saying that, TextMate doesn't look too bad given it's free.

Tythus · 4 Aug 2023 at 22:06

ChrisD. said:
I use Visual Studio Code, as do most developers I work with who use macOS.

While I love VS Code when I am coding, I find that for the reasons I used notepad++; it's too much as by the time I've opened VS Code and all my 70 million plugins have loaded, I could have already finished what I would have done on Notepad++.

Feek said:
I think that’s the sort of thing TextMate does as well.

TextMate: Text editor for macOS

macromates.com

I'll give it a look-see.

Hutch said:
Another vote for vscode here

Are there any specific notepad++ features you need?

The main uses I had for Notepad++ were either:

A scratch pad for me to dump things into as I worked on whatever
I had received a JSON/XML/YAML etc. and I needed to do the following against
1. evaluate
2. validate
3. edit
4. create
5. view like this
receive log files from exceptions/etc. and go through them, being able to tag/mark suspect sections and review those later

Hutch · 5 Aug 2023 at 00:43

yeah i guess vscode prob is good for that but isn't as lightweight.. I don't really notice it starting up mind.

I've used textmate also in the past and its a capable text editor.

a colleague of mine swears by sublime text too if you haven't tried it.

Tythus · 5 Aug 2023 at 07:54

Hutch said:
yeah i guess vscode prob is good for that but isn't as lightweight.. I don't really notice it starting up mind.

I've used textmate also in the past and its a capable text editor.

a colleague of mine swears by sublime text too if you haven't tried it.

oh I love sublime <3

randal · 5 Aug 2023 at 08:16

ChrisD. said:
I use Visual Studio Code, as do most developers I work with who use macOS.

Same, or VsCodium for the non-branded and still compatible with all extensions alternative.

R4z0r · 5 Aug 2023 at 19:17

VSCode for dev environment but it’s a much more heavyweight environment than notepads++ which is really a fancy editor.

I’d say sublime text is more comparable, I personally prefer it to notepad++

ryu · 7 Aug 2023 at 00:21

Sublime++

shine · 13 Aug 2023 at 18:45

Sublime Text is the best IMHO, I use it daily on both my work and personal Macs.

LiE · 14 Aug 2023 at 09:05

Sublime tbh.

mi9tchy · 6 Sep 2023 at 23:09

i use vscode but its definately getting bloated now compared to notepad++

Cromulent · 7 Jun 2024 at 20:19

Flexcept said:
Finding a Notepad++ replacement for Mac can be a bit tricky, especially if you're used to its functionality. Have you checked out Visual Studio Code?

Random first post and nice bump

.

Having said that VSCode with the neovim extension is great. I'm still learning neovim/vim but it has already helped quite a bit.

punky_munky · 23 Jun 2024 at 10:10

I prefer Sublime over VSCode as a scratchpad as it opens so much quicker and it has better editing/manipulation features. Prefer VSCode for actual coding work though.

Also, shout out to Boop if you need a little app to do quick text transformations like formatting json or decoding a url.