Editing files on a FTP server is easy with Notepad++, let me show you how. Notepad++ is my favorite text editor with full text comparison and source code syntax highlighting functionality.
But did you know that with the help of a plugin, Notepad++ allows you to connect to your FTP server, download files to be edited and uploaded automatically when saved?
Edit FTP Files With Notepad++
1. First, you will need to have the NppFtp Plugin and activate it. Go to the Plugins menu > NppFTP and check Show NppFTP Window
2. After that, you will see a new NppFTP window on the right side of your Notepad++ window. You will have to define a “profile setting” which is the usual details you will need to fill in when connecting to your FTP server.
3. After setting up your “profile settings”, now you can connect to your FTP server, browse files, edit files and upload them back directly when you save your changes.
* One other thing that I would really like to see is to be able to create a new file and upload it to the FTP server. If you know how, please leave a comment below. Currently, as discussed above, we’re only able to edit existing file on the server. So, a conventional FTP client is still needed to upload something new to the FTP server.
eltrkbrd says
Creating a new file from the local host and uploading to the FTP is easy with NppFTP.
All you do is connect to the remote FTP server from NppFTP within Notepad++, then right click somewhere in the NppFTP remote directory tree and select the context menu item for “Create new file” or “Create new directory”.
What’s cool about the NppFTP integration with Notepad++ is that it automatically uploads the file your editing after saving changes.
By default NppFTP does permanently store a local copy of the remote file by automatically downloading it first here on a Windows 7 PC:
%AppData%\Notepad++\plugins\config\NppFTP\Cache
It’s possible to have it remove the local cache after every disconnect or to even change the path to the local cache as follows:
To change default cache path (Windows path variables are not supported in NppFTP) –
Click the NppFTP Gear icon | “General Settings” | from the Global settings dialog change the default path from “Global cache:” %CONFIGDIR%\Cache\%USERNAME%@%HOSTNAME% to something else like (C:\Users\your-user-profile-name\Documents\ftp\%USERNAME%@%HOSTNAME%
To automatically delete cache files –
By ticking the “Clear ENTIRE cache on disconnect” checkbox, NppFTP will remove all the cache files and place them in the recycle bin upon disconnect.
David says
@eltrkbrd, thanks a lot for the VERY DETAILED information. NppFTP and Notepad++ simply rocks.
Just wondering, is there a way where we can type the path we’re interested into NppFTP instead of clicking through folders to to where we want to be (like traditional FTP Clients FileZilla, CoreFTP etc)? That would probably save some time to locate files which are deep down in folder hierarchies.
David says
* I received a reply from eltrkbrd which ended up in my inbox instead of on this blog, so i took the liberty to copy and paste it here
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Hi David,
I too use Filezilla and I don’t think there is a way to type in the remote path in NppFTP to navigate to a specific folder. A little toolbar function would be nice along with the ability to drag and drop or upload multiple files at a time.
You can open a support request here to see if it’s possible or can be added:
https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=321962&atid=1353001
Thanks,
Steve
eltrkbrd says
Regarding my above comment on changing the default local cache path settings in NppFTP; please note that the directories must be created beforehand, otherwise NppFTP will not save the cache files to the path you specified.