XML Tools > Configuration...
The plugin, primarily maintained by morbac on GitHub , offers a suite of utilities designed for high-efficiency XML editing:
| Setting | Recommendation | Why | |---------|----------------|-----| | | 2 spaces | Standard for XML; avoids horizontal scroll. | | Indent attributes | Off (unless attributes are many) | Keeps vertical density reasonable. | | Attributes indent size | 4 spaces | Visually separates attributes from tag. | | Check XML on file load | On | Catches errors before you edit. | | Automatic tag closing | On | Saves keystrokes. | | Ignore XML declaration for check | Off | Declaration is required for well-formedness. |
What it does:
Thanks to XML Tools, Alex experiences significant productivity gains:
You paste a URL: https://example.com/?id=123&name=John inside an XML attribute: <link url="https://example.com/?id=123&name=John" /> – Invalid!
Not many users know that XML Tools has its own settings panel. xml tools plugin for notepad++
| Limitation | Consequence | Workaround / Alternative | |------------|-------------|--------------------------| | XPath 1.0 only | No lower-case() , no matches() regex. | Use a Python script inside Notepad++ (via PythonScript plugin). | | No XSD validation | Checks well-formedness, not schema validity. | Use xmllint (command line) or Oxygen XML. | | No XML diff | Can’t semantically compare two XML files. | Use Compare plugin (line diff) or dedicated XML diff tool. | | Memory limit | Files > 500MB may crash. | Use EmEditor or Large Text File Viewer . | | No built-in XML Schema generation | Can’t infer XSD from XML instance. | Use Trang (Java tool) or online converters. |
After installation, you will see a new XML Tools menu item. The core feature set is also accessible via the TextFX menu in older versions, but modern XML Tools uses its own dedicated menu.
If the plugin is not listed in the admin window (often the case in corporate environments or portable versions): XML Tools > Configuration
XML Tools > Comment / Uncomment
This article is a deep dive into every feature, shortcut, and nuance of XML Tools. By the end, you’ll wonder how you ever debugged XML without it.
Meet Alex, a web developer who frequently works with XML files. Alex uses Notepad++ as their go-to text editor, but they've always struggled with editing and validating XML files. They'd often find themselves manually formatting XML code, searching for specific elements, and validating against schemas. | | Attributes indent size | 4 spaces