Working with Multiple Files in Sessions in Notepad++


As a developer, one may end up opening a lot of files in Notepad++ which can eventually make it hard to find the required files that you may need at the moment.

It is a common scenario where someone works on multiple related files at once and does not need other files. Session is one such feature that comes in very handy in such scenarios.


What is a Session in Notepad++?

    A Session in Notepad++ is a set of files to be opened in at once. These files do not have to be in the same directory or even on the same drive.

    When you save a session, the following details are saved,

    • The paths of the open files.
    • The active file tab
    • The current selection and position in the file.
    • The current bookmarks.
    • The current language.

    When you load such a session, all the above information is loaded back into Notepad++


How to Work with Sessions in Notepad++

    You can load or save sessions in Notepad++ by going to Menu: "File > Load Session..." and "Save Session..." respectively.

    Notepad++ Load and Save Session Options
    File > Load Session… This option is used to load an existing session.
    File > Save Session… This option is used to save the currently open files as a session.

Let's open two files and save them as a session.

Save Session of Files Example Notepad++

The session file is nothing but a small XML file with all file paths and meta details about the file.

session file is stored as xml

When you click on Load Session... and open this session.xml file, all the files in this session will be opened.


This is not an AI-generated article but is demonstrated by a human on an M1 Mac running Windows 11 as VM and Notepad++ v8.5.6.

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Author Info:

Rakesh (He/Him) has over 14+ years of experience in Web and Application development. He is the author of insightful How-To articles for Code2care.

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