What is the closest thing to Windows notepad on the Mac?

Question

I'm using Leopard.

score 76 · Accepted Answer · edited Aug 29 '14 at 18:03

76

TextEdit is included with OS X.

You can change it to Plain Text (Format > Make Plain Text) for non-RTF text editing, or make Plain Text the default (Preferences > Format).

edited Aug 29 '14 at 18:03

Jason

8,203

answered Jul 25 '09 at 00:18

deceze

1,015

score 5 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 25 '09 at 00:42

5

If you want simple text editing, use TextEdit.

For code editing, one of the best choices is TextMate.

answered Jul 25 '09 at 00:42

jtbandes

8,960

score 4 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 25 '09 at 01:21

As already stated, TextEdit is the notepad of OS X (although a more powerful notepad that is). For more advanced stuff, TextMate (already recommended) is very nice. A nice free and famous alternative is Bare Bones's TextWrangler.

You can do pretty much with either.

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Apr 16 '12 at 15:43

2

FYI - you can default TextEdit to plain text when it opens:

Goto preferences
Under Format, click on "Plain Text"

http://support.apple.com/kb/TA20406

Can't believe it took me this long to figure that out

answered Apr 16 '12 at 15:43

Tison

21
1

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Aug 29 '14 at 17:31

0

Editra for Mac is simple, free, open-source, highly configurable. All in all, it's my favorite Windows Notepad replacement for the Mac.

answered Aug 29 '14 at 17:31

thanks_in_advance

518

score 0 · Answer 6 · edited Jun 01 '15 at 19:00

0

I recommend Textmate, that works out-of-the-box just like notepad, plus you can activate (if you wish) more and more functions.

edited Jun 01 '15 at 19:00

Mokubai

95,412

answered Jun 01 '15 at 17:07

Chilenoneto

11

What is the closest thing to Windows notepad on the Mac?

6 Answers6