# nppPluginManager: the catalogue is dead, so the README starts with a warning > nppPluginManager installed, updated and removed Notepad++ plugins from a centrally hosted XML list, which is exactly why it stopped working: the README says in its first line that the plugin has not been actively supported since 2019 because the webservice hosting that list was shut down, and points you at the built-in manager in Notepad++ instead. **bruderstein/nppPluginManager** — Notepad++ Plugin Manager - Repository: https://github.com/bruderstein/nppPluginManager - Website: http://www.brotherstone.co.uk/npp/pm/ - Stars: 1,681 · Forks: 221 - Language: C++ - License: GPL-2.0 - Published: 2026-10-16 · Updated: 2026-10-16 · Language: en - Canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/bruderstein-npppluginmanager ## The first line of the README is a deprecation notice There is no marketing above it and no feature list before it. The README opens with ATTENTION: this plugin is not actively supported since 2019, the webservice to host the plugin list was stopped, and you should use the built-in solution of Notepad++. That is the entire status of the project in one sentence, and everything else on the page is historical. The release history agrees: v1.4.12 from 2018-09-30, v1.4.11 from 2018-03-13, v1.4.10 from 2018-02-21. The repository did receive a push on 2026-10-03, so the code is not frozen in the strict sense, but no later release is listed. Treat the repository as a source archive rather than a maintained plugin. ## The architecture was one XML file and a comparison against what is installed The functional description is short and precise. Plugin Manager was a plugin for Notepad++ that allowed you to install, update and remove plugins from within the editor. A centrally hosted XML file held the list of plugins, and the plugin manager downloaded that file and processed it against the list of plugins already installed in your copy of Notepad++. That is the whole mechanism, and reading it now explains the failure precisely. The catalogue was not shipped with the plugin and was not derived from the editor's own state; it was a remote document that the plugin fetched at runtime. A remote index can become a single point of failure when its server is unavailable. Any replacement you evaluate should be able to answer where its list comes from when the original vendor is gone. ## Two files, two directories, and one installs the other The install description is unusual enough to be worth reading twice. You download the zip from the release section, place PluginManager.dll in the Notepad++ plugins directory, and place gpup.exe in the updater directory under your Notepad++ program directory, which the README illustrates as C:\Program Files\Notepad++\updater. Two executables in two roles: the DLL is the piece Notepad++ loads, and the updater binary is a separate program that the plugin shells out to when it needs to install or replace something, which is how a loaded DLL updates itself. The README then describes a shortcut that makes the manual step optional: add only the DLL to the plugins directory, start the plugin, and reinstall Plugin Manager from the plugin's own update tab, which places the second file in the right place itself. If you are recovering an old installation, that self install path is the one to use, since it guarantees the updater binary lands where the plugin expects it. ## The x64 package exists because the DLL is architecture specific A detail in the installation section tells you more about the packaging than any release note would. For the x64 version there is a Chocolatey package named notepadplusplus-npppluginmanager, installable with a single command for the Notepad++ installer version: ```shell choco install notepadplusplus-nppPluginManager ``` The plugin is a native binary loaded into the editor's own process, so it has to match the architecture of that Notepad++ build. The x64 situation is called out specifically because that is where the mismatch bites: a 32 bit Notepad++ will not load a 64 bit DLL, and the manual zip install puts the responsibility on whoever copies the file. The same property explains the directory split. Notepad++ loads plugins from its own plugins directory and runs helper programs from an updater directory, so the archive has to be laid out by hand rather than dropped in one place. ## The repository layout is an archive of how Windows C++ plugins were built The top level entries describe the engineering. PluginManager.sln is the Visual Studio solution, and appveyor.yml with paths.props.sample and paths.props.appveyor is the Windows continuous integration setup, which for a plugin of this vintage means every build ran on AppVeyor. NppPlugin/ holds the code that interfaces with the editor, gpup/ is the updater executable, and libinstall/ is the self install path described above. The repository includes TinyXml/, unzip/, submodule/ and EncryptionTest/ directories. Tests/ holds the test project, website/ and doc/ hold the documentation site, and ISSUE_TEMPLATE.md shows issues were triaged through a template. Everything here is Windows shaped, C++ flavoured and predates modern package managers, which is a fair summary of the era it was written in. ## Against the built-in manager, which the README points to The alternative is not another plugin, it is the editor itself. The README's instruction is to use the built-in solution of Notepad++, and that is the only forward path for a new installation. The README points readers to Notepad++'s built-in solution instead. The historical plugin went the other way, keeping the list server side and treating the editor as a thin client, which was defensible when you wanted a catalogue updated more often than the editor itself and fragile the moment the operator stopped caring. If you want to argue the same design in a tool you are choosing today, the question to ask is simple and this project answers it in the worst way possible: who serves the index, and what happens when they stop. ## Conclusion nppPluginManager is no longer adoptable, and the value of this page is explaining why a once ordinary tool died in a way that generalises: it moved the plugin index to a server it did not control, so the moment that server stopped the product stopped. If you are still running it, the migration is Notepad++'s built-in plugin manager rather than a newer build of this plugin, and the last tagged release here is v1.4.12 from 2018-09-30 even though the repository received a push on 2026-10-03. Read the two file install description only if you are recovering an old machine: PluginManager.dll goes in the Notepad++ plugins directory and gpup.exe in the updater directory under the Notepad++ program directory, and the project is GPL-2.0 so the code remains available even though the service does not. ## FAQ ### Is nppPluginManager still supported? No. The README opens by stating the plugin is not actively supported since 2019 because the webservice hosting the plugin list was stopped, and tells users to use the built-in solution of Notepad++. The newest release is v1.4.12 from 2018-09-30. ### How do I install nppPluginManager manually? Download the zip from the release section, put PluginManager.dll in the Notepad++ plugins directory and gpup.exe in the updater directory under the Notepad++ program directory, such as C:\Program Files\Notepad++\updater. You can also add only the DLL and run a reinstall from the plugin itself, which places the second file correctly. ### Is there an x64 build of nppPluginManager? Yes. The README mentions a Chocolatey package for the x64 version, installed with choco install notepadplusplus-nppPluginManager, for the Notepad++ installer version. ## Sources - [bruderstein/nppPluginManager on GitHub](https://github.com/bruderstein/nppPluginManager) - [License: GPL-2.0](https://github.com/bruderstein/nppPluginManager/blob/master/LICENSE) - [Project website](http://www.brotherstone.co.uk/npp/pm/) - [README](https://github.com/bruderstein/nppPluginManager/blob/master/README.md) - [Releases](https://github.com/bruderstein/nppPluginManager/releases) --- Hysen Labs editorial analysis, written from the project's own repository and release notes. Cite the canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/bruderstein-npppluginmanager