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I've been using Notepad++ for a long time as a quick note taking app. The "feature" I most use is the ability to have multiple tabs opened with text that I typed and the ability to close the whole app and continue where I left without having to actually save the file itself. Most of the time it's just quick notes so I don't have the need to always save stuff.

Notepad++ is not available on Linux and it is starting to get buggy on my Windows for some unknown reason, so I'm searching for an alternative that has these features:

  • Is cross platform.
  • Has the restore previous session (I don't know if that is the correct name) without actually having to save the files.
  • Doesn't need to choose a workspace or a folder to start working.

I've tried the following:

  • VS Code: Nice for code editing but requires to choose a workspace (bad if I open VS Code for other stuff) and doesn't have the save feature I want (I have to save the file and give it a name)
  • Kate Editor: Promising and nice looking also, but I couldn't find if there's the save feature that I want.
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  • In the past time, i do edit and save to specific location, even I'm forgot to save, Notepad++ is save the session, then i lost my computer, unsaved data is lost and the specific location is unaccessible/lost, i lost everything, then i search how to avoid losing data, tried using C9 local from github for some time, need to instal in server, like notepad++, when i close, and reopen, its save the session, but its a web based editor, now I'm edit in workspace VS Code, i can edit in any place, i can save my edit to my private repository, edit from anywhere, only story
    – Anas Fanani
    Jan 7 at 6:36
  • almost duplicates (because even though these are for Linux, the answers are mostly cross-platform): Linux text editor with no prompt autosave and restore, Linux alternative for Notepad++. Notepad++ can run in Wine on Linux, and there's also a Notepad++ clone named notepadqq and a faster notepadqq fork
    – phuclv
    Jan 9 at 14:32

4 Answers 4

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sublime text has exactly what you require... and it is cross-platform... windows / linux / MacOS..

By default, it does save whatever you're working on.... you don't have to save all your work before closing it... You can open as many tabs as you want without saving it... those tabs will open the next time you open sublime text....

And you don't have to open a workspace or folder... to do a work on...

The only downside, it is not exactly 100% freeware... you are allowed to use it as long as you want without paying, for that, you'll have a nag screen popping up every now and then...

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  • Your answer has been flag as low quality and might be removed; please have a look at What is required for an answer to be high quality? for some tips on how to improve it.
    – Glorfindel
    Dec 31, 2022 at 17:51
  • the setting in Sublime is "hot_exit_projects": true
    – phuclv
    Jan 9 at 14:20
  • Thanks for the suggestion but for me it's a killer that it's not free :( Perhaps in the future i'll consider it.
    – RabidTunes
    Jan 10 at 10:46
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Kate definitely supports that. Just open the katerc file and make sure these settings are there:

[General] 
Last Session=mysession.katesession 
Restore Window Configuration=true 
Session Exit=save

I don't know where it is on Windows and mac but on Linux it should be ~/.kde/share/config/katerc

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  • I have Linux Mint and I installed Kate through the Software Management app (the default store app). I found the file in /home/user/.config/katerc and I think I got all working but I'm missing the Session Exit=save feature, as when I edit a file and I click exit it still prompts me to create a file and save it to disk. I've searched in the Kate GUI config but I can't find that setting. Could it be that the version for Linux Mint is outdated?
    – RabidTunes
    Jan 10 at 10:45
  • I don't know, could be that it exists on file only. You can build from source to try the latest version
    – phuclv
    Jan 10 at 15:17
  • In Windows I saw the option but Kate still prompts me to name and save the file upon closing, so I don't know if I'm doing something wrong or what but I just can't manage to do the hot exit, even though it looks like the option is there.
    – RabidTunes
    Jan 11 at 15:34
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VS Code: Nice for code editing but requires to choose a workspace (bad if I open VS Code for other stuff) and doesn't have the save feature I want (I have to save the file and give it a name)

Clearly that's not true. There's no need to create or choose a workspace if you only have one. By default VS Code will save the current status and restores the files the next time you run VS Code again. There are lots of related settings:

window.confirmBeforeClose
window.restoreWindows
window.reopenFolders
files.hotExit
...

So just write anything and close VS Code, no need to worry about saving or naming

VS Code hot exit

See https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/editor/codebasics#_hot-exit

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  • There's no need to create or choose a workspace if you only have one The thing is I have multiple workspaces because I use VSCode for other stuff, but thanks for pointing out the "Hot Exit" feature I'll definitely use it for other purposes!
    – RabidTunes
    Jan 10 at 10:34
  • @RabidTunes you can tell VS Code to open a workspace by default
    – phuclv
    Jan 12 at 0:59
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After trying other's suggestions I ended up picking CudaText because the "hot exit" feature that I wanted works out of the box without any additional configuration and it's crossplatform and faster than Notepad++ and Notepadqq.

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