The line wrap feature in Notepad++ is quite useful. Line wrapping is a feature that moves the text to a new line when the current line is full.

Without line wrapping, text lines may extend beyond the width of the text editor’s window, making it difficult for you to view the full lines.

Notably, editors like Notepad++ do not enable line wrapping by default since they are also used for source code editing.

How to Enable Line Wrapping in Notepad++

Scrolling horizontally to view long lines in large documents can be time-consuming. In this article, you will learn how to enable line wrapping in Notepad++.

1. Wrap Lines Using the Word Wrap Option

Notepad++ offers a Word Wrap feature similar to many other text editors. By default, this feature is disabled, and text lines will extend beyond the width of the Notepad++ window.

To view the full lines, users must use the horizontal scrollbar. Activating Word Wrap in Notepad++ is easy and can be done in just a few steps:

Launch Notepad++ by double-clicking its shortcut or searching for it using the Windows search feature.
now, Click on the View menu in the menu bar and choose the Word Wrap option from the list.

enable line wrapping


Now, the text lines will adjust according to the size of your Notepad++ window.

2. Wrap Lines Using the Replace Tool

This method allows users to limit the number of characters per line, unlike the Word Wrap feature, which adjusts lines to the width of the window.

The Replace tool can be used to insert a newline command after a specified number of characters.

This method does not require any additional plugins for Notepad++ but may not work on very long tokens like URLs. Follow these steps to enable line wrapping:

using notepad++ on mac
  1. Open Notepad++ by double-clicking its shortcut.
  2. Click on the File menu and select Open. Choose your document from the folder and click the Open button.
  3. Click on the Search menu in the menu bar and choose the Replace tool or use the Ctrl+H shortcut.
  4. In the Find What section, enter the following command, which specifies that lines should be split between 40 and 60 characters: ^(.{40,60})\s
  5. In the Replace with section, enter the following command: \1\n
  6. Ensure that the Regular expression option is selected, and then click the Replace All button to wrap lines according to the specified number of characters.
line wrapping in Notepad++ find tool method

Conclusion

In conclusion, Notepad++ provides users with effective methods for line wrapping, making it easier to view and edit text files.

With the Word Wrap feature, you can quickly adjust lines to the width of the application window, while the Replace tool allows for custom line length limitations.

By following the steps provided in this article, you can seamlessly enable line wrapping and significantly improve your text editing experience by using Notepad++ Dark themes as well.

Now you can enjoy more efficient navigation and editing of large documents, without the need for time-consuming horizontal scrolling.