Open file with existing instance of Notepad++ portable

Question

I have Notepad++ portable "installed" and if I try to open a file from Windows Explorer that should open with Notepadd++ portable I get the error

Another instance of Notepad++ is already running. Please close other instances of Notepad++ before launching Notepad++ portable.

My problem is I don't want to open a separate instance, I want the file to open with the existing instance.

I found a blog post on how to get around this issue by opening multiple instances http://mattrefghi.com/blog/2010/11/how-to-launch-multiple-instances-of-notepad/ but like I said, I'd prefer the file to open in my currently running Notepad++ window

I am able to drag & drop the file in the existing window and it works, but double clicking won't open the file.

Anyone know a trick to make this work?

Solution 1

You need to point to the application executable, not to the launcher. If you point to :

X:\PortableApps\Notepad++Portable\Notepad++Portable.exe

it doens't work and tells you Notepad++ is already running.

But if you point to :

X:\PortableApps\Notepad++Portable\App\Notepad++\notepad++.exe

then everything works as expected.

Solution 2

I have seen this issue happen when Notepad++ crashes when it is closed. Although the application window appears to close, the Notepad++ process is still running. You can check the task manager and kill it off from there.

This is usually caused by a plugin. You can move or rename the plugin directory and see if Notepad++ closes cleanly. If it does then add the plugins back one at a time to identify the misbehaving one.

Comments

[Admin]

Frankly I'm surprised you can even open one instance by double-clicking with a portable version of an application (because that usually requires registry settings to associate the file extension with a particular application).

[Admin]

By just right clicking txt,csv,xml files and selecting open with and then browsing to my portable np++ folder they seem to work just fine. It just won't open new files once it's already open unless i use ctrl-o or drag and drop the file.

[Randy]

This is actually how I have it set up and it is causing the error.

[Randy]

I went through and cleaned up my plugins but my problem wasn't a residual running instance of np++ but rather an active copy that would not open the file in a new tab. This didn't solve the problem though.

[martineau]

Setting to default program for an extension to a portable app seems like and oxymoron -- the whole point of one being that using it does not change the system configuration and therefore leave a trace.

[Stat-R]

@martineau see my edits.