Solved Help! New notepad mangles my .txt files.

I would like to use the new win 11 notepad but for now I have uninstalled it and set the old notepad to open my .txt files.

I have one file in particular that I use frequently. My gaming keypad profiles. (For my Razer Tartarus V2) The pic shows just one keymap (in the old notepad) but that file is huge, 2965 lines, and everything has specific spacing creating organized rows and columns.

When I open that file in the new notepad it mangles it. All the spacing is messed up and none of the columns line up anymore.

Does anyone know how to fix this so the new notepad will display the file the same way as the old notepad?

Up until recently Notepad was only a text editor, didn't have all the formatting a word processor like Word, WordPerfect, WordPro, LibreOffice, etc. WordPad is a 'lite' version of Word, has a lot of formatting choices.

Notepad was best used by programmers as it didn't add hidden formatting that could screw up a program. It was also good for basic beginning with HTML.

I'm just starting with the new version and its tabs, will say it's different.

New Notepad is the same as the old one apart from having Tab windows.

What you show is the result of window size and word wrap on/off. Also font type and size.

It is preferable to use a monospaced(fixed pitch) font to keep the illusion of formatting.
e.g. Courier new, Consolas.

The point of Notepad is minimal formatting, so very limited hidden formatting characters.

Sqrly said:

New notepad mangles my .txt files

Click to expand...

Layout problems like yours are commonplace when converting documents between different applications.
I would not expect you to find any solution other than manually reconfiguring the document within the new Notepad.


Denis

The first and only thing to do with Notepad is replace it with Notepad++. /thread

Helmut said:

New Notepad is the same as the old one apart from having Tab windows.

What you show is the result of window size and word wrap on/off. Also font type and size.

Click to expand...

Try3 said:

Layout problems like yours are commonplace when converting documents between different applications.
I would not expect you to find any solution other than manually reconfiguring the document within the new Notepad.

Click to expand...

barreleye said:

The first and only thing to do with Notepad is replace it with Notepad++. /thread

Click to expand...

I use NPP quite a bit for other stuff but it mangles this LegacyTextFile the same as Office and the W11 Notepad do. I was hoping not to edit the entire thing.

Might try the free LibreOffice, can open many file types.

Examples from your image:

Your underlining with the minus sign would improve if you used Monospaced(Fixed pitch) font. Do try it.
This applies to both Old and New Notepad.

Window size and word wrap on/off and font type and size.
These are all interdependent.

e.g. I use Notepad to compose these forum messages, word wrap on.
word wrap off before posting on these forums, the forum doing any formatting like wrapping lines.

Usually I do the same for printing word wrap off and often a font size change.

To look at your "formatting", word wrap off, and as large a window as required to display all the text.

All this is the same in Old and New Notepad.

I have been using Notepad for over 30 years.

You could use applications like Word and tables, or an Excel spreadsheet but that would take a lot longer with their vast array of options.

Sqrly said:

I use NPP quite a bit for other stuff but it mangles this LegacyTextFile the same as Office and the W11 Notepad do. I was hoping not to edit the entire thing.

Click to expand...

I don't know what a "LegacyTextFile" is. I assume you're talking about a .txt file, which has no formatting or style information embedded in it. It may have encoding information embedded in the first couple of bytes, but otherwise, it's just a stream of characters in some codeset.

Neither program is "mangling" your file, i.e. altering its contents. If your spacing is messed up, it's purely in the presentation. This can be due to the use of different fonts, word wrap status, and if you're using a mix of tabs and spaces, differing number of spaces per tab. To fix this, use a monospaced font, turn off word wrap, and don't mix tabs and spaces, but if you did, make sure every program you use thereafter specifies the same number of spaces per tab you used when creating the file. If you didn't use a monospace font when designing the spacing, you'll have to fix up the spacing when you switch to one. Or you can try to use the same proportional font in every program you view the file in.

barreleye said:

I don't know what a "LegacyTextFile" is.

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It's what it's called in the registry now in W11. But I said it wrong, it's "TextFileLegacy". It used to be "TextFile".

I like to use my own icons and for some of the default programs you have to dig into the registry to change them.

Sqrly said:

It's what it's called in the registry now in W11. But I said it wrong, it's "TextFileLegacy". It used to be "TextFile".

I like to use my own icons and for some of the default programs you have to dig into the registry to change them.

View attachment 91158

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I've had more success in changing icons by right-clicking a Shortcut, Properties, Change Icon then locate the shell32.dll file to get more choices. I haven't used Paint to create custom icons in some time now.

Berton said:

I've had more success in changing icons by right-clicking a Shortcut, Properties, Change Icon then locate the shell32.dll file to get more choices. I haven't used Paint to create custom icons in some time now.

Click to expand...

I'm talking about the icon of a file type, not an app icon. There's a big difference.

Usually the default app that opens it will set the icon for you. Doing it manually takes regdit.

Sqrly said:

I'm talking about the icon of a file type, not an app icon

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The icon shown for any file type is the icon of the app that you have told Windows to open that file type with.


All the best,
Denis

Try3 said:

The icon shown for any file type is the icon of the app that you have told Windows to open that file type with.


All the best,
Denis

Click to expand...

Unless you change it


Note: Those instructions are very simplistic. I think they are for win 7, but the theory is still sound. In 11 you may need to dig a bit deeper, I did.

EDIT: #42 I found the info source I use to do it.

Sqrly said:

Unless you change it

How to Assign a Custom Icon to a File Type - Win32 apps

A custom icon must be assigned to a file type to provide a visual indication to the user of that file type or the application that file type is associated with.

learn.microsoft.com

Note: Those instructions are very simplistic. I think they are for win 7, but the theory is still sound. In 11 you may need to dig a bit deeper, I did.

EDIT: #42 I found the info source I use to do it.

File Extension Icon - Change Default Icon

How to Change the Default Icon of a File Extension in Windows 7

www.sevenforums.com

Click to expand...

I also use Nirsoft's FileTypesMan to change the .txt file bland image. Straightforward really.

Sqrly said:

Unless you change it

Click to expand...

Of course.

Denis