Installing the Latest Notepad++ with PowerShell

November 21, 2022January 6, 2021 by Kevin

I just needed a place to stash this and my GitHub didn’t seem appropriate. I make no guarantees that this will work and it’s only been tested on one system so far.

# Modern websites require TLS 1.2
[Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12

#requires -RunAsAdministrator

# Let's go directly to the website and see what it lists as the current version
$BaseUri = "https://notepad-plus-plus.org"
$BasePage = Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $BaseUri -UseBasicParsing
$ChildPath = $BasePage.Links | Where-Object { $_.outerHTML -like '*Current Version*' } | Select-Object -ExpandProperty href
# Now let's go to the latest version's page and find the installer
$DownloadPageUri = $BaseUri + $ChildPath
$DownloadPage = Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $DownloadPageUri -UseBasicParsing
# Determine bit-ness of O/S and download accordingly
if ( [System.Environment]::Is64BitOperatingSystem ) {
    $DownloadUrl = $DownloadPage.Links | Where-Object { $_.outerHTML -like '*npp.*.Installer.x64.exe"*' } | Select-Object -ExpandProperty href -Unique
} else {
    $DownloadUrl = $DownloadPage.Links | Where-Object { $_.outerHTML -like '*npp.*.Installer.exe"*' } | Select-Object -ExpandProperty href -Unique
}
Write-Host "Downloading the latest Notepad++ to the temp folder"
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $DownloadUrl -OutFile "$env:TEMP\$( Split-Path -Path $DownloadUrl -Leaf )" | Out-Null
Write-Host "Installing the latest Notepad++"
Start-Process -FilePath "$env:TEMP\$( Split-Path -Path $DownloadUrl -Leaf )" -ArgumentList "/S" -Wait

I added the -Unique flag to the end of the download URL detection as indicated in a below message. (Again, nice catch!)

14 thoughts on “Installing the Latest Notepad++ with PowerShell”

erfan

January 10, 2021 at 12:18 PM

perfect
Reply
Mauro G.

April 26, 2021 at 6:58 AM

It downloaded the notepad++ installer in an AWS EC2 instance running Windows Server 2019. It didn’t start the installer automatically, but download was good enough for me.
Reply
- Kevin
  
  June 1, 2021 at 6:14 PM
  
  Thanks Mauro. I wasn’t able to reproduce in my own environment, but that doesn’t mean it’s outside the realm of possibility.
  Reply
captain_dedpul

October 8, 2021 at 7:18 PM

i ended up doing this.. it installs the latest one 64 bit
$LocalTempDir = $env:TEMP
$href = ((Invoke-WebRequest -Uri ‘https://notepad-plus-plus.org/downloads/’).Links | Where-Object { $_.innerText -match ‘current version’ }).href
$downloadUrl = ((Invoke-WebRequest “https://notepad-plus-plus.org/$href”).Links | Where-Object { $_.innerHTML -match ‘installer’ -and $_.href -match ‘x64.exe’ }).href
Invoke-RestMethod $downloadUrl -OutFile “$LocalTempDir/np++.exe”
start-process -FilePath “$LocalTempDir\np++.exe” -ArgumentList ‘/S’ -Verb runas -Wait
Reply
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Matias

January 25, 2022 at 10:19 AM

And updated version in case you want to update existing NotePad++ installed

$w64=Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* | where-Object DisplayName -like ‘NotePad++*’
$w32=Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* | where-Object DisplayName -like ‘NotePad++*’
Write-Output “Before::::”
if ($w64) {
write-Host $w64.DisplayVersion
} elseif ($w32) {
write-Host $w32.DisplayVersion
} else {
Write-Output “No Version Found”
}

# Modern websites require TLS 1.2
[Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12

# requires -RunAsAdministrator

# Let’s go directly to the website and see what it lists as the current version
$BaseUri = “https://notepad-plus-plus.org”
$BasePage = Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $BaseUri -UseBasicParsing
$ChildPath = $BasePage.Links | Where-Object { $_.outerHTML -like ‘*Current Version*’ } | Select-Object -ExpandProperty href
# Now let’s go to the latest version’s page and find the installer
$DownloadPageUri = $BaseUri + $ChildPath
$DownloadPage = Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $DownloadPageUri -UseBasicParsing
# Determine bit-ness of O/S and download accordingly
if ( [System.Environment]::Is64BitOperatingSystem ) {
if (Test-Path (“C:\Program Files\Notepad++”)){
$DownloadUrl = $DownloadPage.Links | Where-Object { $_.outerHTML -like ‘*npp.*.Installer.x64.exe”*’ } | Select-Object -ExpandProperty href
}else {
if (Test-Path (“C:\Program Files (x86)\Notepad++”)){
$DownloadUrl = $DownloadPage.Links | Where-Object { $_.outerHTML -like ‘*npp.*.Installer.exe”*’ } | Select-Object -ExpandProperty href
}
}
}
#Fix when it get 2 lines of the same URL
$DownloadUrl = $DownloadUrl[0]

If ($DownloadUrl -ne $null){
Write-Host “Downloading the latest Notepad++ to the temp folder”
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $DownloadUrl -OutFile “$env:TEMP\$( Split-Path -Path $DownloadUrl -Leaf )” | Out-Null
Write-Host “Installing the latest Notepad++”
Start-Process -FilePath “$env:TEMP\$( Split-Path -Path $DownloadUrl -Leaf )” -ArgumentList “/S” -Wait
}

$w64=Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* | where-Object DisplayName -like ‘NotePad++*’
$w32=Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* | where-Object DisplayName -like ‘NotePad++*’
Write-Output “After::::”
if ($w64) {
write-Host $w64.DisplayVersion
} elseif ($w32) {
write-Host $w32.DisplayVersion
} else {
Write-Output “No Version Found”
}
Reply
- Kevin
  
  November 21, 2022 at 10:54 AM
  
  I dig it – but for me (in my scenarios), I let the internal update checker do the work for me.
  Reply
- Greg
  
  June 5, 2025 at 2:11 PM
  
  You mixed up the 64 bit and 32 bit. 32 bit would be installed in the Wow64 location.
  Reply
Sam Arora

July 26, 2022 at 6:47 PM

Didn’t work for me:
Invoke-WebRequest : Cannot convert ‘System.Object[]’ to the type ‘System.Uri’ required by parameter ‘Uri’. Specified method is not
supported.
At line:20 char:24
+ Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $DownloadUrl -OutFile “$env:TEMP\$( Split-Path …
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : InvalidArgument: (:) [Invoke-WebRequest], ParameterBindingException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : CannotConvertArgument,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.InvokeWebRequestCommand

Installing the latest Notepad++
Start-Process : This command cannot be run due to the error: The system cannot find the file specified.
At line:22 char:1
+ Start-Process -FilePath “$env:TEMP\$( Split-Path -Path $DownloadUrl – …
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : InvalidOperation: (:) [Start-Process], InvalidOperationException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : InvalidOperationException,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.StartProcessCommand
Reply
Philippe Langlois

August 24, 2022 at 12:42 AM

On my end, on a fresh WS2019 install, I had to add the “-Unique” flag on the Select-Object statement at line 15 & 17 to ensure only one line was returned, then it installed like a charm.

Otherwise:
PS C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop> $DownloadUrl
https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/releases/download/v8.4.4/npp.8.4.4.Installer.x64.exe
https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/releases/download/v8.4.4/npp.8.4.4.Installer.x64.exe

Thanks! 🙂
Reply
- Kevin
  
  November 21, 2022 at 10:48 AM
  
  Nice catch Philippe – This script kind of gets borked whenever they decide to change the web page layouts. That is a solid catch, my man.
  Reply
John Laugerman

August 2, 2023 at 2:59 PM

It worked great for me, is there a way to also install some plugins silently over PS?
Reply
- Kevin
  
  November 7, 2023 at 1:24 PM
  
  Not any simple way I’ve been able to find. There might be a way buried in the executable for Notepad++, but I haven’t taken the time to truly dig in.
  Reply
Gurudas

April 23, 2024 at 6:42 AM

# Modern websites require TLS 1.2
[Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12

# Check if Notepad++ is running and close it if it is
$notepadProcess = Get-Process -Name “notepad++” -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
if ($notepadProcess) {
Write-Host “Closing Notepad++”
Stop-Process -Name “notepad++” -Force
}

#requires -RunAsAdministrator

# Let’s go directly to the website and see what it lists as the current version
$BaseUri = “https://notepad-plus-plus.org”
$BasePage = Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $BaseUri -UseBasicParsing
$ChildPath = $BasePage.Links | Where-Object { $_.outerHTML -like ‘*Current Version*’ } | Select-Object -ExpandProperty href
# Now let’s go to the latest version’s page and find the installer
$DownloadPageUri = $BaseUri + $ChildPath
$DownloadPage = Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $DownloadPageUri -UseBasicParsing
# Determine bit-ness of O/S and download accordingly
if ( [System.Environment]::Is64BitOperatingSystem ) {
$DownloadUrl = $DownloadPage.Links | Where-Object { $_.outerHTML -like ‘*npp.*.Installer.x64.exe”*’ } | Select-Object -ExpandProperty href -Unique
} else {
$DownloadUrl = $DownloadPage.Links | Where-Object { $_.outerHTML -like ‘*npp.*.Installer.exe”*’ } | Select-Object -ExpandProperty href -Unique
}
# Extract version from the download URL
$Version = $DownloadUrl -replace ‘.*npp.([0-9.]+)\.Installer.*’, ‘$1’
Write-Host “Downloading Notepad++ version $Version to the temp folder”
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $DownloadUrl -OutFile “$env:TEMP\$( Split-Path -Path $DownloadUrl -Leaf )” | Out-Null
Write-Host “Installing Notepad++ version $Version”
Start-Process -FilePath “$env:TEMP\$( Split-Path -Path $DownloadUrl -Leaf )” -ArgumentList “/S” -Wait
Reply

Installing the Latest Notepad++ with PowerShell

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