This is going to be a short and slightly random post, but this information is something I learned this week that was entirely opposite of what I thought it was so I wanted to share.

What’s in this post

“Unsaved” Notepad++ files are actually saved

When you work with Notepad++, a free and very nice notepad application for Windows, you have the ability to create a lot of new files and leave them unsaved without losing them when closing the app or even restarting your computer. I never really knew how the app managed that and hadn’t thought much about it, but I figured that since I had never officially saved the files to my hard drive, that the information in the files wasn’t saved onto my hard drive and were thus safer from external access than a stored file would be.

However, this week I learned that I was totally wrong and that the way Notepad++ keeps your “unsaved” files ready for you to use again after being closed is to keep a “backup” saved onto your hard drive. For me, these files were saved in this location: C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Notepad++\backup

This is what I currently have backed up there, which lines up with what I see in the actual application, plus backups of files I closed today which are kept just in case I want them, I guess.

Screenshot showing the Windows File Explorer location for Notepad++ unsaved file backups and my list of backup files
Screenshot showing the tab bar of Notepad++ and my list of open and unsaved files that are being backed up by the application

And then if you end up saving the files, like for me I had unsaved changes in the two actually-named files which I then saved, the “backup” files will disappear.

Screenshot showing the Windows File Explorer location for Notepad++ unsaved file backups and my list of backup files, with some now gone from the list after I saved them

I think this is actually a neat feature since it could save you if you accidentally close an important file that you didn’t mean to. But it isn’t some cool loophole for keeping important secret things easily at hand but secure like I kind of assumed. I’m not saying I put secrets into these temp files, but if I was, I definitely wouldn’t be doing it anymore. 😀 Always keep your secrets locked up in key vaults or password tools! The one I’ve started using is Bitwarden and it seems pretty nice and easy to use so far.

Summary

Notepad++ doesn’t use magic to keep your unsaved files available for you to use after closing the app or restarting your computer; it is saving those files in a backup location on your computer. And if you close a file you didn’t intend to before you saved it, you can get that file back from this backup location before you restart your computer.