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Best Free Text Editor
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In a Hurry?
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 Go straight to the Quick Selection Guide |
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Introduction
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There are lots of text editors. Some of these aspire to just be Notepad replacements, while others are full-on programming text editors. If you are looking for a text editor with programming or source code editing features, such as Notepad++, please take a look at Best Free Programming Editor. Or if you are searching for a text editor that is good for editing html codes, you might want to check out Best Free HTML Editor. This review will only focus on text editors used for file saving in plain text format. It will include some free programs which give more useful features, such as a tabbed interface, than those available in Notepad and they still remain reasonably lightweight, fast and reliable. Expect that some of the text editors shown will have programming capabilities so do not be afraid to try those ones out too. |
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Discussion
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The program comes with a tabbed interface for switching between open files easily and allows users to set the application window on top of other windows. Some other useful features include: block functions; no file size limitation; unlimited undos and redos even after saving the file - so long as it remains open. On the down side, the spell checker is not included in the free version. |
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Basic features such as redo/undo, find/replace and word wrapping are included. The program also supports: line numbering; display whitespace; own text snippets; sending documents via email; and so on. No installation of the program is required. Just download, extract the zip file and run the executable. The program does not come with a spell checker. |
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This program includes find and replace, undo and text statistics. The interface is quite easy to use although it has an old look to it. I wouldn't recommend this as a full-on text editor but it still is a very good notepad replacement. This program is quite basic by itself as many big features come in the full versions. |
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Other Programs
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These are articles which I have either decided not to give a full review or will be reviewed at a later date. Taking a quick look over it and reading all the available features told me that although advertised as one this program isn't much of a text editor and should really not be downloaded unless you intend to use it for text editing and also want it for programming. |
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Related Products and Links
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You might want to check out these articles too: |
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Testing Process
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All software reviewed on this page was tested on a Windows 7 computer and if available also on Ubuntu 10. If the review states it is safe on another OS then I found this data straight from the developer. You will never find me saying it is safe on an OS unless I or the developer tested it. |
Supported formats: txt and html.
Supported format: txt only.
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Editor
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This software category is in need of an editor. If you would like to give something back to the freeware community by taking it over, check out this page for more details. You can then contact us from that page or by clicking here |
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Tags
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| text editor, plain text editor, notepad replacement, basic editor, windows text editor, program editor, best editor |
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Comments
I will give RJ TextEd a two thumbs up but not in the Best Free Text Editor category but as a Best Free Programming Editor. It's comparable to PSPad and as much as I like PSPad I now prefer RJ TextEd.
Wordz:
http://www.morganpalmer.co.uk/store.html
Features:
- small (under 2 MB)
- easy-to-use interface
- saves in txt, RTF format
- Spell Checking and Live Spell Checking
- Additional Reading feature
Two online editors:
Yarny:
http://getyarny.com/features/
Quabel:
https://quabel.com/
Textroom is a free full screen rich text editor developed with especially writers in mind:
http://textroom.sourceforge.net/
Cream - a modern configuration of the Vim text editor:
http://cream.sourceforge.net/index.html
http://sourceforge.net/projects/cream/?source=dlp
http://cream.sourceforge.net/featurelist.html
MetroTextual is a Windows text editor inspired by Microsoft’s Metro Design Language. It’s designed to be a visually appealing replacement for Notepad; with significant improvements to performance and aesthetics.
Hotshot programmers will also enjoy MetroTextual’s syntax highlighting; which is powered by Scintilla.
Features:
# Syntax highlighting with file extension detection
# Lighting fast; thanks to unique multi-threading technology.
# Compatible with all character encodings supported by Windows
# Beautiful and simple Metro UI style user interface.
http://singularlabs.com/software/metrotextual/
MetroTextual requires Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8. The Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0 (or newer) must be installed before MetroTextual can be used.
That looks like a pretty good program. I've been short on review able text editors so Ill take a shot at this one. Thank you.
I think two of the most powerful text editors in recent times as compared to any other text editors mentioned in this article or any articles on text editors are
1. Notetab Light (Although free, some regard this as crippleware. Full version is trialware. MC - Site manager)
http://www.notetab.com/comparison-chart.php
2. RJ TextEd
Available at www.rj-texted.se/
If any users find any other text editors more powerful than these two,please also do let me know.Feedback appreciated.
(Yes..I also know about Notepad++,Polyedit,Jarte etc.)
Thanks
I don't really approve of notetab unless your purchasing it.
As for RJ TextED, never heard of it. That will be a good one to check out.
My favorite text editor is TotalEdit Lite. It comes with a spell checker which is a must for me. http://www.codertools.com/totaledit.aspx
Does anyone know whether there's a text editor that will do bulleted list? I can't find this feature in a text editor!
Hi de7cel,
What operating system are you using? If you are using Mac, there is TextEdit.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2523
If you are using windows, please reply to this comment and I will find one for you.
Thanks for the comment!
Goliath
Hi Goliath -- thanks for your response. I am on Windows platform. I like the speed and simplicity of text editors but would like to find one that has bullets and maybe numbered outlining. If you know of one, please let me know. Thank you very much.
Allen
I've been looking for a text editor for Windows that will serve for writing novels intended for conversion to Kindle ebooks. The requirements are simple: Word wrap, the ability to use fonts on my computer, including bold and italics, the ability to set first line indents for the document, and the ability to create blank lines by some means other than the enter key.
It's the last requirement that eliminates the ones I've tried. The Kindle conversion process will ignore blank lines created by the enter key, and I don't want to put a symbol in the line to hold it open. The programs all have the ability to eliminate blank lines, but I need the ability to create them, such as with Word's Format/Paragraph/Space After.
A bonus would be an editor that's simple, not a Swiss Army Knife. Any recommendations?
Textroom has been mentioned is what I use for writing novels check to see if it does what you need
http://textroom.sourceforge.net/
I'm onto it. This is a feature that is not very common with text editors, so I will try and find it for you.
Perhaps there is a plugin to configure keys?
"Perhaps there is a plugin to configure keys?"
I don't know. I'm in geek kindergarten. But someone could have quite a market by developing a simple text editor just for that purpose. Word often causes problems during Kindle conversion, even after saving to html.
Another reason Word and most other text editors have trouble with is that they insert extra crud to style the document, such as headers and footers, that HTML doesn't like. Notepad++ does not add these extra tidbits, so it could be ideal for writing a book. If you are geek kindergarten, then enter geek elementary school and take a HTML coding course. It takes about an hour, and it is really useful. That is how I started coding, and have now moved on to C+ , Visual Basic, Python and Lua. The best thing is, lots of these tutorials are free!
Thanks for the input. I had Notepad++ a few years back, for what purpose I don't recall. I downloaded it again and will play with it.
Actually, a number of text editors would be usable if it weren't for the blank line requirement. It may be against the nature of a text editor to create blank lines, although articles and non-fiction works require a lot of that. I've used a number of HTML tags, including placing hypertext in messages, so maybe I got into the first grade and didn't realize it.
Quite possibly I could use ENTER or a symbol to to create an empty line, then convert to HTML and enter the right code for an empty line, or maybe I enter it, then convert to HTML. I feel myself slipping back toward juice and naps.
I'll try that. As long as it isn't double work, which isn't insignificant when we're talking about a novel with over a hundred blank lines.
Have any luck? Guess you probably would have by now.
That's true. Ive heard that notepad++ has been used to write ebooks, because of its functionality and compatibility with HTML.
This is what I get when I try to open >2GB text file with EditPad Lite:
"EditPad Lite does not support files larger than 2 GB. Please upgrade to EditPad Pro if you want to edit the file"
I'm pointing this in response to "no file size limitation"
According to their website, this limitation also applies to the Pro version:
"Edit huge files without breaking a sweat. EditPad Pro will instantly open files up to 2 GB in size, even if your PC has less than 2 GB of RAM. Also, the maximum length of a single line is not limited, which is a problem with many editors claiming to support "unlimited" file sizes".
Maybe I'm missing something here?
I can not comment their pro version. I just point out that part of EditPad Lite's review here is not correct.
Quote: Some other useful features include block functions, no file size limitation...
I really think Notepad++ is the very best text editor. Someone in this tread says, it is a "slow opener" - NO this is not right/true. Please don't through such comment around because YOU don't like kit, and maybee have a SLOW PC.
IMHO no list of notepad alternatives could be complete without mention of a little known program called Stick
http://iwonderdesigns.com/project_overview/stick/
Basically it allows the user to place multiple tabs on the screen sides which open a variety of functions including notepads (others include calendars, RSS, and -- less helpful -- an internet browser and a file explorer). The notepad itself is uninteresting except that it does support rich text.
The real advantage of the program is that it saves the file automatically and you can have multiple tabs displayed; all without cluttering the taskbar. Personally, I have one labeled "Scrap" where I place temporary general bits of things, "Notes" where I place longer-term general items, and then specialized tabs for various uses.
Sadly, the project has been abandoned but the program still works flawlessly in Win7 (x32, at least). Since it is portable, you can store it on a USB and take everything with you.
This section is dedicated to text editors. Stick is not a text editor. It is a word processor, and more. Furthermore, I would be hard-pressed to recommend a program that is no longer supported. There are free text editors that handle multiple tabs gracefully: notetab light which can be downloaded from http://www.notetab.com/versions.php
Jotx:
http://www.sdsoftware.org/software/jotx/
Jotx is not a text editor. It is a word processor which, like all word processors, also allow saving as text. Incidentally, as a word processor, it is deficient because it only saves as text or rtf.
I need to be able to do multi-column sorting of a text file. For example I need to sort a text file on columns 21-30 and then on columns 1-10. Textpad is the only text editor that I have found that can do this. Do you know of any other editor that can do that? I know of several other co-workers that could use that functionality as well. So finding a free version would be helpful.