NotepadMac

A native Mac port of the Notepad++ text editor. Same engine, same files — no Wine, no emulation, no Windows code.

◆ Free & open source (GPL) ◆ Apple silicon + Intel ◆ macOS 11+ ◆ Signed & notarized

Install with Homebrew

brew install --cask tanderbold/tap/notepadmac

…or download the notarized .dmg from Releases and drag NotepadMac to Applications.

NotepadMac editing a Python file, with tabs, the Function List docked on the left and the Document Map on the right, dark theme

All 579 Windows menu commandsImplemented against Notepad++'s own sources, behaving the way they do on Windows.
Same engine and filesScintilla and Lexilla, with Notepad++'s language, style, theme, function-list, shortcut and translation files.
~90 languages highlightedSyntax colouring, folding, function list, auto-completion — plus User Defined Languages.
Search like Notepad++'sBoost-syntax regular expressions, Find in Files, Mark, incremental search, search results window.
Plugins, built inJSON viewer, Compare (on the ComparePlus engine: aligned panes, changed characters, moved lines), XML tools, FTP client and NppExec-style scripting ship inside the app.
Numbers and formulasSelect numbers: sum, average, min, max or count written after them, or sort them in place. Type 2 + 3 * 4 = and press ⌘= for the answer — sin, ln, log, √, degrees, percent included. How it works
Extra toolsHashes (bcrypt, scrypt, Argon2, PBKDF2…), Base64/58/32, a password generator, HTTP Request.
Knows your languageA trained model recognises the language of pasted or extension-less text — no rules, just data.
Speaks ~90 languagesThe interface follows Notepad++'s own localisations, including the port's additions.
Markdown previewThe document rendered live in a docked panel — CommonMark with tables.
Spell check & moreSystem-engine spell checking, RTF/HTML export that keeps the colours, MIME and number conversions.
Mac-native extrasThe nppmac command line, OCR from the clipboard or a PDF, QR codes both ways.
Git, built inChanged lines marked in the margin as you type, the branch in the status bar, a panel to stage, unstage, discard and commit, Compare with HEAD, blame, history, branches, fetch, pull and push.
An MCP server for AI agentsClaude Code and friends see the open documents, unsaved text and selection, and use the editor's lexers, search, Compare and language model as tools. Off until you turn it on.
Your own pluginsA small C interface, the full Scintilla API — one dylib and your command is in the menu.

Screenshots

Two NotepadMac views side by side, Python on the left and TypeScript on the right, each with its own tab bar — **Two views side by side** Each view with its own tabs: a Python file beside a TypeScript one.

NotepadMac search results for the word station in four files of a project, grouped by file with line numbers — **Find in Files** Every hit, file by file, in a results tab that folds; double-click a hit to open its file at that line.

NotepadMac comparing a Python file with its last commit, differences highlighted in both panes with a summary bar — **Compare** Both texts aligned, changed characters marked, added and removed lines.

NotepadMac with git change markers in the margin of a Python file and the Git panel listing a modified and an untracked file — **Git, built in** Changed lines in the margin, the branch in the status bar, the Git panel.

NotepadMac editing a Markdown README with a live rendered preview docked on the right, including a table — **Markdown Preview** The document rendered live in a docked panel.

NotepadMac document where a list of prices got SUM = 27.2, temperatures got AVG = 15.5 and formulas such as sin 30° = 0.5 were calculated — **Numbers and formulas** A sum and an average written after the numbers; formulas answered after their =.

The HTTP Request window showing a GET request to a local server and its formatted JSON answer with status 200 OK — **HTTP Request** A request and its JSON answer, laid out; curl in and out.

NotepadMac Preferences window on its General page, with Notepad++'s pages listed on the left — **Preferences** Notepad++'s pages and wording; the interface in any of its ~90 translations.

Write your own plugins

Plugins load the way they do on Windows — a dynamic library with a small C interface, the full Scintilla API included. One file, one clang -dynamiclib, and your command is in the Plugins menu. A complete plugin in twenty lines · SDK reference.

Numbers and formulas FAQ Source on GitHub Releases Feature list Issues Discussions