To get to the Find in Files section all you have to do is open up the find/replace dialog and switch to the respective tab (pictured in the screenshot above). Most people I talk to about this feature say that they’ve never even navigated to that tab because the Find and Replace tabs generally conquer all of their bulk editing needs. It’s true that those tabs have a lot of functionality, but Find in Files definitely deserves the space it occupies.

When switching to the Find in Files tab you may not immediately notice how this is different than the Find tab. The Filters and Directory fields (along with a few of the checkboxes) are the notable differences. This is where you can specify a directory you want Notepad++ to crawl and bulk edit files without having to first open them in Notepad++. Using the filters you can have it restrict results to certain file extensions, and the checkboxes off to the side will control its ability to crawl into hidden folders and sub-folders.

I’d like to present you with a small warning though. Before doing a bulk replace you should perform a Find All so that you can see a list of matching files along with the line numbers that will be modified:

While you could edit text files with good old Windows Notepad, or any other free text editor, EditPad Pro is a powerful text editor that makes the job far more comfortable.

With EditPad Pro you can easily open and edit many text files at the same time. There’s no limit. Arrange text files into multiple projects to open them at once and edit them together. Open all files in a folder (and its subfolders) into a project. Many of EditPad Pro’s editing commands can work on all files in a given project at once. Quickly switch between files and projects by clicking on their tabs. Move back and forth with the handy “previous editing position” and “previously edited file” commands. Manage long lists of text files and large projects with the handy file manager sidebar which can rename, move, copy and delete files.

You can make sure you’re writing with proper spelling by using EditPad Pro’s spell checker. Word lists are available in many languages. You can tell EditPad Pro to point out misspelled words in the current file, current project, all open files, or just the selected text. Turn on Live Spelling to make EditPad Pro highlight misspelled words as you type.

EditPad Pro sports one of the most extensive search-and-replace features of any text editor. Quickly find the part of the file you want to edit. Highlight matches, fold lines, and skip over matches and files. Instantly make many replacements throughout a (rectangular) selection, file, project, or all files in all projects. Use regular expressions and adaptive case options for powerful and dynamic search terms and replacements. Clever use of EditPad Pro’s search-and-replace can automate much tedious editing.

Record and play back keystroke macros to reduce repetitive tasks to a single key combination. Record a search as part of a macro to instantly edit all search matches in any particular way. Save any number of macros to build your own library of high-octane text editing wizards.