Notepad++ find and replace string with a new-line

Question

Consider the scenario where you have a specific string that you want to find-and-replace. You want to replace it with a new string that contains a newline character (or character sequence).

abc123 xyz456-blah
fsafd23 xyz456-green
89hjkf23 xyz456-red
afdsa23 xyz456-yellow
abaac123 xyz456-orange

In the scenario above, I'd like to find " xyz" and replace the space with a carriage return/newline.

The results would look like:

abc123
xyz456-blah
fsafd23
xyz456-green
89hjkf23
xyz456-red
   ︙

etc...

Question: How would you most easily achieve this using Notepad++? Are there any other tools that you'd suggest to easily perform this command?

score 317 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 11 '18 at 07:51

317

Notepad++ will do just fine.

Search string:

xyz

Note the space in front of xyz.

Replace string:

\r\nxyz

You will also need to set the "Search Mode" to "Extended" (lower left group box in the Replace dialog) so that Notepad++ honors escape codes.

Some background: "\r\n" is the escape code for carriage-return, the standard for new lines in Windows. Unix-style systems use simply \n (newline). Most IDEs, Notepad++ included, will understand both styles and portray them each with new lines, but core Windows utilities do not understand \n as being equivalent to \r\n, so the latter is usually the most appropriate if the file is intended to be used in Windows environments.

edited Jun 11 '18 at 07:51

Peter Mortensen

12,190

answered Sep 02 '09 at 18:02

caliban

20,153

2

\r\n = Windows newline syntax. However, for everything other than plain old notepad, it will accept just \n for a newline (which is also more conventional). – Macha Sep 02 '09 at 18:09
3

Your phrase "more conventional" is misleading. "\r\n" is the standard on Windows. It's just that a lot of editors and IDEs happen to recognize the Unix/Linux standard line ending "\n" and display the document accordingly. There's nothing about "\n" that makes it more conventional. – Brian Lacy Nov 12 '10 at 20:44
To be honest, the Win/DOS version makes more sense to me. "\r" means "Carriage Return, or 'Return the carriage/cursor to the beginning of the line'" and "\n" means "Advance the carriage/cursor forward one line". Of course, Unix came 20 years before, so I guess in that sense it is Microsoft who broke the standard. – Brian Lacy Nov 12 '10 at 20:49
7

this wont work unless you set the search mode, as specified in the other answer: http://superuser.com/questions/34451/notepad-find-and-replace-string-with-a-new-line/34454#34454 – codeulike Aug 19 '11 at 15:49
8

If you're trying to replace the literal string "\r\n" with an actual new line I had to do the following: set search mode to normal, find/replace \r\n with *. Then set search mode to Extended, find/replace * with \r\n. – goku_da_master May 28 '14 at 17:38
@goku_da_master +1 that was exactly what i was trying to figure out. Thought maybe there was a different way but this works just fine =-) – Mungoid Sep 13 '14 at 21:11
How do I do this the other way around? I want to replace things like newlines with text. – Aaron Franke Dec 12 '16 at 17:00
This also works in reverse. I just used replace </item>\r\n <item> with <\item>\r\n\r\n <item> in N++ reading an xml document to add an empty line between each item, visually separating it and making it easier to read. – Isaac Reefman Jun 21 '18 at 00:53
\r\n didn't work for me, but \r did surprisingly. NP++ v 7.75. I was trying to replace ";" with carriage return. – Vinay Jul 27 '18 at 18:44
In a sense adding friction to the development process by changing conventions with \r\n is what allowed Microsoft to distinguish themselves from the unix world. In the end it's the same thing ! It's just a marketing trick to move programmers over time to the Microsoft ecosystem. The reverse is happening now as the open source ecosystem is strong now. – faysou Jun 17 '20 at 13:33

score 66 · Answer 2 · edited Nov 10 '21 at 10:36

66

In Notepad++, it's very easy...

Find: xyz
Replace with: \n

Search Mode: Extended (\n, \t, etc.)

The trick is to set the search mode.

edited Nov 10 '21 at 10:36

bad_coder

643

answered Sep 02 '09 at 18:01

th3dude

9,461

1

This answer worked for me, the accepted did not. Ver 5.8.6 – bdwakefield May 19 '11 at 23:53
Yes same here the accepted answer did not specify using the extended mode.. – Andy Nov 18 '11 at 08:17
1

Why not \r\n (instead of \n)? – Peter Mortensen Jun 11 '18 at 07:47

score 7 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 02 '09 at 17:59

I cheat a bit when S&Ring characters that I can't type directly into the text fields (e.g. tabs and newlines). Find somewhere in the document which already has that character, then copy it, and paste it into the replace field.

So in your example, start at the very start of one line, click, drag to the very end of the preceeding line, copy that, and paste it into the Replace dialog.

score 7 · Answer 4 · answered Sep 02 '09 at 18:01

7

In the "Replace" dialog, make sure that under Search Mode you have "Extended" selected. Then type in the find box enter "xyz" and replace with "\n".

answered Sep 02 '09 at 18:01

TJ L

1,939

1

Why not \r\n (instead of \n)? – Peter Mortensen Jun 11 '18 at 07:47

score 4 · Answer 5 · answered Sep 02 '09 at 18:02

4

For Notepad++, change the search mode to Extended then in the Replace with field use \n.

answered Sep 02 '09 at 18:02

dlux

4,511

1

Why not \r\n (instead of \n)? – Peter Mortensen Jun 11 '18 at 07:47

Notepad++ find and replace string with a new-line

5 Answers5