Can I install Notepad++ on Ubuntu Linux Distro?
No. You can’t.
There is no native installation available for the Linux operating system. Notepad++ is written in C++ and uses native Windows API, which makes it faster than many other text editors, but Windows-only applications.
But, no worries.
In this article, I wll show you how to get Notepad++ on Ubuntu.
Add Notepad++ in Ubuntu
There are many good, free and open-source text editors available for Linux. You will not miss Notepad++ at all. So there is no question to install it on Ubuntu or any other Linux OS. But, if you recently moved from Windows to Linux and shying away to learn a new text editor, then go ahead with the installation.
The below methods work for Ubuntu 22.04, 20.04, and 18.04 versions.
Method 1 – Install Notepad++ On Ubuntu from Terminal (Commands)
There is no official snap available for Notepad++. This is created by mmtrt user. You can refer to this GitHub page for additional details. Ubuntu 18.04, 20.04, and 22.04 by default supports snap, for others distros, you need to install and enable snap first.
For Ubuntu, open the terminal and run the command to install Notepad++.
$ sudo snap install notepad-plus-plus notepad-plus-plus 7.6.6 from Taqi Raza (mmtrt) installed
Once, the installation is complete, just type notepad-plus-plus on the terminal to launch it.
$ notepad-plus-plus
The first time Notepad++ starts, you get the below message saying the wine configuration is being updated. That is fine, as mentioned earlier this snap is based on Wine.
This is how it looks on Ubuntu.
The installation worked fine for me. But if you face any issues while installing run the below command as per the snapcraft forum.
Troubleshooting
This snap uses the wine-i386 with a notepad-plus-plus portable. So you have to install mandatory and option plugs to make Notepad++ work properly on Ubuntu Linux Operating System.
Mandatory Plug
sudo snap connect notepad-plus-plus:process-control
Optional Plugs
sudo snap connect notepad-plus-plus:removable-media sudo snap connect notepad-plus-plus:hardware-observe sudo snap connect notepad-plus-plus:cups-control
Watch Video Tutorial –
Method 2 – Install Notepad++ On Ubuntu using Software Center (Graphical Method)
This is another method using which you can easily add Notepad++ to Ubuntu using the software center. Good for beginners or those who prefer GUI to commands. Please note, at the end this method installs the Notepad++ snap package only.
Simply, go to activities and launch Ubuntu Software Center, and search for Notepad++.
Select Notepad++ (WINE) from the search result and click the Install button.
Next, enter the sudo password. The installation completes in seconds.
Now, go to activities and search for Notepad++ and click to launch it.
Watch Vido Tutorial –
Updating and Removing Notepad++
Snaps are updated in the background. You don’t have to update it explicitly. But, you can always run the snap refresh command to update and have the latest Notepad++ version.
sudo snap refresh notepad-plus-plus snap "notepad-plus-plus" has no updates available
You can simply remove it using the command given below.
sudo snap remove notepad-plus-plus
Summary
Thanks to wine technology, you can have Notepad++ on Linux. This should work on other distros like Debian, Mint, Redhat, OpenSuse, Fedora, and other Linux Distros which support snap technology. Performance may not be the same as you see in Windows. Ideally, you should not use Notepad++ on Linux as it is not made for it.
If you are interested to read more about Notepad++, visit this section on this website.
Notepad++ Alternative – What is Notepadqq and (How to) install and use on Linux