Notepad++ v8.8.7: Authenticity Guaranteed
2025-10-20
With this release v8.8.7 Notepad++ is now signed by a legitimate certificate issued by GlobalSign. This is a major security milestone, and it should permanently resolve all concerns regarding the authenticity and integrity of Notepad++ releases (which were present since v8.8.2, when the previous certificate expired).
It’s been a challenging few months, struggling with administrative hurdles and dealing with certificate authorities to make this happen. Essentially, for an open-source project to obtain a certificate under its name, it must be recognized as a business entity. In our case, that meant creating and registering a nonprofit organization (NPO) with the project name in the maintainer’s country of residence. This process fulfilled the certificate company’s requirements.
Despite this formal step, please note that Notepad++ remains a community-driven, non-profit project.
Securing this official certificate requires a significant investment - 647 € for 3 years. While modest by corporate standards, this is a substantial expense for an open-source project without a business model behind it. If you’d like to help cover this cost, your donation would be sincerely appreciated.
Besides being signed by a well-known CA (certificate authority), this release includes various bug-fixes & a enhancement. You can view the full list of improvements for version 8.8.7 and download it here:
Regression and critical bug report here:
https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/topic/27203/notepad-release-8-8-7-signed-with-a-legitimate-certificate
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