Notepad++ is the much loved, open-source, and free to download text/source code editor and Notepad replacement, available for Microsoft Windows, and supporting several languages. It was developed in 2003 by software developer Don Ho, who was dissatisfied with the Java-based text editor he was using at the time. Thus, he decided to create something better, more-efficient, and more user-friendly. And so, Notepad++ was born.
According to Ho, Notepad++ is based on the powerful editing component Scintilla, written in C++ and built to guarantee a higher execution speed and smaller program size. Through well thought-out optimization, Notepad++’s developer is attempting to reduce the world’s carbon dioxide emissions. For, when less CPU power is used, a PC can operate at a reduced level of power consumption, leading ultimately to a greener environment.
Much loved for being lightweight, and its inclusion of persistent files, line-numbering, tab-browsing, syntax highlighting, search and replace, detection of modified files, plugins support, and much more, one of the less loved features of the latest versions of Notepad++ is that any URL is automatically hyperlinked. This means that, instead of being able to click directly into a URL and edit it (as is obviously useful in a source code editor), clicking a URL activates a link and takes you online to the website of that particular URL address.
Understandably, this feature of Notepad++ can be quite frustrating. But fear not! There is a very simple, very quick and easy way to disable this feature. What’s more, you can do so right in the middle of using the software, with no need to close or restart it once you’ve made the change.
To disable links in Notepad++ just follow the steps below.
Disabling links in Notepad++
- Open the Notepad++ app on your PC.
- Click on Settings in the toolbar at the top of the application.
- Click on Preferences from the drop-down menu.
- From the sub-menus on the left-hand side, select Cloud & Link
- Under Clickable Link Settings on the settings page now in front of you, untick the box labelled Enable. This will immediately disable the clickable links feature.
- You can now exit from Settings, and return to your work in Notepad++ without any need to close or restart the software.
Note: In earlier versions of Notepad++, the option to disable clickable links is found under Settings > Preferences > MISC. rather than Settings > Preferences > Cloud & Link
And there you have it! As simple as that, you can disable the clickable links feature of Notepad++ and edit your text and source code to your heart’s content, without ever again coming up against the frustration of attempting to edit a URL and finding yourself directed out of the app and onto the web.
