How to disable Notepad++ Auto-open previous files without opening Notepad++?

Question

How do I stop Notepad++ from loading all files from the past session?

I know how to do that settings in Notepad++, but the problem is that I once opened a very large file (>10GB) and made the Notepad++ hang up. Notepad++ has already marked that big file in the session and therefore hang up everytime I start the Notepad++. Is there a way I can stop it from loading the past session so it won't hang up every time?

P.S. I have received a report on possible duplicate with this question. This is obviously a different case. At least in that question the notepad++ still starts up normally while in my case I cannot even change the settings normally because the notepad++ just hang while loading the stored version. The answer to this question also provide a good way to change the settings without starting Notepad++, which will be useful in fixing problems caused by settings when the Notepad++ cannot starts normally.

Possible duplicate of [Notepad ++ doesn't save document on exit?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/24447786/notepad-doesnt-save-document-on-exit) — AdrianHHH, Jul 21 '16 at 08:14

score 20 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 21 '16 at 03:27

20

Yes, you can change that setting by modifying the config file.

go to %appdata%\Notepad++ and open config.xml

You should find the following line in there:

<GUIConfig name="RememberLastSession">yes</GUIConfig>

just change it to no and that should do the trick.

answered Jul 21 '16 at 03:27

yzwijsen

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Thanks for pointing to that folder. Once within the folder, the alternative is to edit session.xml and remove the file that is making trouble. – Birgit Vera Schmidt Jun 26 '17 at 08:56
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You should open config.xml with something else than Notepad++! Else it will just reset the config when you close the program. – Arno van Oordt Feb 23 '18 at 08:50
You can do the same in settings: Settings > Backup > Uncheck "Remember current session for next launch". – Yann Aug 25 '22 at 06:33

score 12 · Answer 2 · edited Feb 25 '19 at 05:01

12

Start from command line:

notepad++ -nosession

"Auto-open previous files" then should be disabled

edited Feb 25 '19 at 05:01

jordan

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answered Feb 24 '19 at 21:16

Jacques Houbart

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Although I guess that should work, when using windows, it is not a common practice to have PATH set to the position of notepad++. One may need to navigate to the notepad++ file path before using this command line. – cytsunny Feb 25 '19 at 07:22
I already had the problem of having a very large file that prevents to open normally notepad ++ I created at home a .lnk with this parameter to open notepad ++ cleanly – Jacques Houbart Feb 26 '19 at 18:48

score 6 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 01 '20 at 01:05

6

If, like me, you left a huge file in the last session, you can also remove just the offending file from the session and keep the rest.

go to %appdata%\Notepad++ and open session.xml

Scroll to the right to see the filename. Be careful to keep the integrety of the XML by removing the entire "file" node. It should be on a single line.

answered Dec 01 '20 at 01:05

Bill Wilder

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This is also mentioned in the comment of the best answer. I guess it would be more meaningful if you can give an example of editing the XML? – cytsunny Dec 01 '20 at 03:53

score 5 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 13 '20 at 08:16

This is for those who do not want to modify the XML config filess, and this will also work without having the Notepad++ in PATH.

As I do not have enough reputation to comment on other answers, I'll add on Jacques Hubart's comment, all credits should still be for him.

Open Windows Run (Windows + R)
Type in the full path to the Notepad++ EXE. This would normally be C:\Program Files\Notepad++\notepad++.exe
Add the nosession parameter
Run

Preview:

score -1 · Answer 5 · answered Nov 25 '16 at 07:39

-1

There is also another way from GUI In Settings/Preferences/Backup uncheck the "Remember current session for next launch"

answered Nov 25 '16 at 07:39

Eliask

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score -1 · Answer 6 · answered Mar 14 '19 at 13:31

-1

As suggested use notepad++ -nosession from run to open notepad++. Then go to preferences --> Backup --> Uncheck Remember current session before next launch Close notepadd++ and open it normally without run. It worked for me.

answered Mar 14 '19 at 13:31

swap

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Why are you copying other answers? – Toto Mar 14 '19 at 13:33
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As suggested where? – Rich Mar 14 '19 at 13:45
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This is basically just Jacques Houbart's answer in this page. – cytsunny Mar 15 '19 at 03:32

score -1 · Answer 7 · answered Sep 08 '22 at 12:05

-1

another possibility is that the window is on an other screen not visible anymore due to starting it in a new multimonitor setup.

in that case, you have to bring the windows in the visible area by:

select the window by Alt+Tab
Alt+Space opens a small menu in the top left corner
Arrow-Down and Enter selects ' Move'
Arrows brings it back

answered Sep 08 '22 at 12:05

mischl

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I was using one monitor only all the time, and I already saw the Notepad++ program opening up. I can see that in task manager. The problem was It just hung there and I had to kill the program with task manager. – cytsunny Sep 15 '22 at 12:51

How to disable Notepad++ Auto-open previous files without opening Notepad++?

7 Answers7