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How can automatically reload modified files in Notepad++? The confirmation step is annoying, and is completely unnecessary in some situations.

6 Answers 6

378

You can disable the confirmation in the settings:

Settings -> Preferences -> MISC. -> Update silently

enter image description here

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  • 84
    That's one badly named setting ...
    – sakra
    Dec 4, 2012 at 12:57
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    Note that as of v6.3, "Update silently" only updates the file when its tab receives focus. Search functionality therefore accesses the old buffer and might show inaccurate results. Mar 22, 2013 at 0:30
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    I wish NotePad++ had a few more 'Yes all' buttons. Jul 4, 2014 at 20:37
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    Good heavens. The confirmations almost made me mad. Thanks! Dec 10, 2014 at 10:44
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    The "scroll to the last line after update" setting may also be helpful for log viewing scenarios. Aug 7, 2015 at 19:24
93

There is a nice plugin called Document monitor (Can be found and installed from the Plugins => Plugin Manager => show Plugin Manager menu),

It updates the opened files every 3 seconds. Together with the option to "scroll to last line after update", it will have the ability to "tail" a log file as wanted.

After the plugin installation don't forget to activate it by clicking:

Plugins => Document monitor => start to monitor

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    +1 for for a great plugin. This is exactly what I need. Better than accepted answer.
    – Seidleroni
    Dec 16, 2014 at 15:03
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    Now there is a monitoring function build into notepad++ since version 6.9.2
    – Jon
    Dec 19, 2016 at 22:46
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    To expand on @Jonathan727 and save everyone a click: "Click on "eye icon" on toolbar or use menu "View->Monitoring (tail -f)" to activate/disactivate this command". Jan 16, 2017 at 15:36
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    should be the accepted answer...
    – Mathias
    Feb 7, 2017 at 14:27
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    @SopalajodeArrierez : Notepad++ has a built in plugin manager. Therefor it is not necessary to provide a link. Also it is well described how to install the plugin. Anyway if you want to have a link here's the source code sourceforge.net/projects/npp-plugins/files/DocMonitor
    – Mathias
    Oct 23, 2017 at 8:31
61

For monitoring an individual log file, use the View > Monitoring (tail -f) option (thanks to https://superuser.com/a/1246651/17025).

This will keep the file up to date, and also keep the end of the file visible (which is not always exactly what you want); it also is a setting for each individual file rather than a global setting.

This approach is not usable if you want to edit the file as well - it keeps it in read-only mode.

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    This answer is buried, but is by far the most correct solution. It uses a built-in feature, doesn't disable warnings for all other files, and doesn't require installation of a 3rd party plugin. Hopefully this gets more attention and votes! Jun 24, 2019 at 15:23
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    This approach will also set your file as read-only (which is bad in my current case) May 7, 2020 at 0:26
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    This works without the focus on Notepad++. Nice! May 9, 2020 at 9:23
  • Way more convenient than opening a Powershell window and running Get-content pathToLogfile -Tail 0 -Wait :)
    – Sébastien
    Jun 14, 2021 at 15:44
  • this works but for me when I enable it, the application is throwing an error saying that the log file can't be accessed due to another system currently using it. Jan 9, 2022 at 22:51
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Both of the above commands are not working properly.

There is a command in the File menu, 'Reload from disk' which works perfectly.

I have made a shortcut Alt + R which makes it very handy. Yet, not automatic though.

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    Does not answer the question. The asker is looking for a way to suppress the dialog that asks if you want to reload and do this automatically.
    – R-D
    Jan 31, 2014 at 8:27
  • @Roald van Doorn: The answer to the question is that there is no solution YET. Praveen gave the next-best solution that is possible NOW.
    – qedstar
    Dec 10, 2015 at 13:04
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    I think there is a built-in shortcut Ctrl + R
    – xjcl
    Mar 9, 2021 at 17:08
4

In newer versions of notepad++, click the eye icon which described as Monitoring (tail -f)

enter image description here

2

I typically have multiple files open, and after I update them I want all open files to automatically reload without having to click on each one separately. The current way to do this is by selecting the setting called "Enable for all opened files". In my case I like to be prompted for every file so I get to see what it looks like before and after I accept the prompt, but I want it to happen all in one shot as soon as I bring Notepad++ into focus, which is what this setting enables. If you don't want to be prompted at all, you should also select the "Update silently" option:

enter image description here

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