Welcome to Ettin Edit
Ettin Edit is a fast, friendly text editor for Linux and Windows. It is inspired by Notepad++, shares none of its code, and builds in the tools people usually add to Notepad++ with plugins: JSON and XML tools, a compare view, SQL over CSV files, and more.
This manual explains how to use every part of the editor and how to make it your own. You can read it in two places:
- in Ettin Edit, from Help > User Manual (Shift+F1), which works without an internet connection, and
- on the web at https://tharkis.github.io/Ettin-Edit/.
Both show the same text, written for the version of Ettin Edit you have.
Meet the heads
In Norse myth an ettin is a giant, and the famous ones had more than one head. Ours has two. Edda keeps your tabs in order and has never once lost an unsaved file. Ottar compares everything with everything else and keeps asking for one more plugin. You'll see their opinions in the odd tip box.
Where to start
| If you want to… | Read |
|---|---|
| Install it, or get the newest version | Installing and updating |
| Know what everything on screen is | A tour of the window |
| Open, save and juggle files | Files and tabs |
| Edit faster: multiple carets, line tools, completion | Editing text |
| Find and replace, in one file or a whole folder | Finding and replacing |
| Format JSON, check XML, decode Base64 | Tools |
| Compare two files | Compare |
| Query a CSV file with SQL | CsvQuery |
| Change fonts, shortcuts and colours | Making it yours |
| Add or write plugins | Using plugins |
Finding your way around this manual
- The contents are on the left. In the app, the box at the top searches every page; on the web, press S or click the magnifying glass.
- Menu commands are written like File > Open…: open the File menu, then choose Open….
- Keyboard shortcuts look like Ctrl+Shift+F. These are the defaults; if you change them in the Shortcut Mapper, the menus show your own.
- Every command is also in the command palette: press F1 and type a few letters of its name.
Edda says: you don't have to read this front to back. Skim the tour, then come back when you wonder whether Ettin Edit can do something. It probably can.