How to fix Notepad++ icons not showing?

Question

I like to develop in Notepad++, but ever since I installed MS Office 2010, even after setting it as the default editor for all html/php/js files, I still get the XML Editor's icon in the file browser, and not Notepad++'s.

I also would like to get rid of that XML Editor entirely, so if anyone can tell me what to change in Add/Remove programs to wash it off my system, I'd love to hear about it.

Answer 1

If the file association is set correctly and only the icon needs to be changed, you can use something like FileTypesMan to accomplish this.

1. Select the file type/extension you want to edit from the top pane:

   

2. Next edit the selected file type (via right-click/context menu or F2) and ensure the Default Icon field is set to properly point to Notepad++'s executable (or whichever file contains the icons; perhaps a .DLL):

   

3. Exit FileTypesMan, log off and log back in or reboot as required, then test your changes

Of course you can do all this from the registry as well, but this utility just makes it easier (and likely safer too). :)

Regarding removal of the Office XML Editor, I didn't find a separate entry under Add/Remove Programs for it, neither could I spot it when I chose to modify the Office 2010 installation and Add/Remove Features. Perhaps I somehow missed it. Anyway, no harm in it being there as long as it's no longer associated in any way with the .XML extension, which is what you want.)

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Edit: The Notepad++ File Association utility might also be able to help, otherwise I would recommend trying again via the program itself, or reinstalling so that the installer can set all default file associations properly.

Answer 2

I had this issue as well (though I'm on Windows 10). After reading @Rich's answer I decided to search for "notepad++" in Regedit and see what I could find. I spammed my way through with F3 for a while until I came across this key:

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Applications\notepad++.exe

It contained a key called ShellEx, which itself contained a key called IconHandler. I decided I could safely delete the notepad++.exe key because I could just reinstall NPP if it broke things. Lo and behold, I only had to press F5 in Explorer for the Notepad++ icons to reappear. Then I just used Disk Cleanup to delete the thumbnail cache so that folder thumbnails regenerated.

I realise this isn't the ideal answer format but I'll post it anyway because I couldn't find this information anywhere else.

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Update: It's happened again a couple more times in the past few months. Sometimes deleting the registry key isn't enough and I have to change the default program for the XMLs (or CSVs, or which file format is showing the incorrect icon) to some other program and then change it back again.

Answer 3

I had this problem this morning and found this question while searching the web on how to fix it. I tried this FileTypesMan tool which led me to solve it although the actual tool did not help. When I found the TypeName with the bad icon, I right clicked and followed the link to regedit. From there, it showed me a type called Notepad++_file, along with several others named things like Notepad++.cpp, Notepad++.h, etc. Now I don't really know where those other types came from compared to Notepad++_file, but I noticed for some reason Notepad++.c is the type that is actually associated with .c files on my system, as opposed to this catch-all Notepad++_file. And I also noticed a difference between them, there was a subkey under Notepad++_file called extShell, that the others did not have. I deleted this extShell key, rebooted, and it all works now.