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lawrencep
lawrencep
New Member
May 8, 2026
Question

Looking for a decent text file editor for ChormeOS

  • May 8, 2026
  • 8 replies
  • 97 views

Hi

Wondering if anyone can suggest a decent text file editor for ChromeOS.  Was using TEXT, but looks like it's been withdrawn from the play store.  Tried Notepad Next under Crostini but it keeps crashing on me.  I just need to be able to create/edit txt and json files.

Thanks

      8 replies

      Darrell
      Darrell
      New Member
      May 11, 2026

      Notepadqq is a Linux/Crostini version of Notepad++

        M
        mathieu_rou
        Level 1.6: Donut
        May 11, 2026

        Hi,

        Yes, I would be very interested in hearing about a native web solution or extension (must run locally).

        Text editing remains a crucial aspect of many workflows, and it is unfortunate to have to rely on virtualization just to access a reliable tool like Notepad++.

        We are currently still using the TEXT app on our end and will continue to force-install it on our devices for as long as it remains available. However, if we don't find a viable replacement soon, we are going to face significant challenges moving forward.

        Lynda
        LyndaCommunity Manager
        Community Manager
        May 11, 2026

        Hi ​@mathieu_rou Have you tried the suggestion ​@Darrell made above i.e. Notepadqq is a Linux/Crostini version of Notepad++?

        Would be good to hear your thoughts.

        M
        mathieu_rou
        Level 1.6: Donut
        May 11, 2026

        Hi Lynda,
        Unfortunately for me Linux/Crostin is still some kind of virtualisation even if it’s local.
        Also for some internal reasons on our side we decided to use Chromebooks as web devices only, so Crostini and Android VMs are disabled.

        Lynda
        LyndaCommunity Manager
        Community Manager
        May 14, 2026

        Has anyone tried https://caret.io/ by chance? Might be worth a try.

          MarcEvers
          MarcEversGoogle Team
          Google Team
          May 19, 2026

          I use it mostly for JSONs, but Plex Code editor works well enough and is just an extension.

            Rafa
            RafaCommunity Manager
            Community Manager
            May 19, 2026

            Some great input here, guys! 
            ​@lawrencep have you had the chance to test out any of these yet?

            Community Manager
            lawrencep
            lawrencepAuthor
            New Member
            May 19, 2026

            I haven't tried any of them yet.  Some good suggestions.  I’m hoping to look at some of these this week so I will report back when done.  Thanks for everyone’s input.

              M
              mathieu_rou
              Level 1.6: Donut
              May 19, 2026

              Hello Marc,
              Thanks for sharing, I will give it a try.

                Rafa
                RafaCommunity Manager
                Community Manager
                May 20, 2026

                Hey ​@mathieu_rou, please let us know how you find it!  

                Community Manager
                M
                mathieu_rou
                Level 1.6: Donut
                May 20, 2026

                Hello Rafa,

                So it’s pretty good to take quick note and use it as temporary clip board, or quick editing (it remind me a lot of the Mac OS note tool, with the floating note).

                But I’m missing two key feature to really use it as a true text editor.
                -1 ) I can’t directly open file with it, I need to drag an drop the file into it, and will create note copy of content, this is really not UX friendly
                -2) I can’t save my note into a txt file to store it on the drive, I need to open the Text Editor app back and copy the content to save it 😅.

                Lynda
                LyndaCommunity Manager
                Community Manager
                May 21, 2026

                Hi again, I got recommended the following from a colleague. If it's for developmnet work visual studio in web (https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/setup/vscode-web) is a good solution.
                You can give it a try at https://vscode.dev/

                  M
                  mathieu_rou
                  Level 1.6: Donut
                  May 22, 2026

                  Hi Lynda,

                  Thanks for sharing this solution, I was already aware of it.
                  This a very good solution, it was already under assessment, but we face some issues :

                  • The missing UX, that should be in any text editor app, we need to be able to directly open files from the FileApp.
                  • This solution can’t be managed to allow to sync file only with our GDrive or our private Github platform.

                  I think if we were Microsoft Office users instead of Google Workspace it would have been ok to sync with our Microsoft account.

                  I feel like the solution we need should come from Google :) , since you initially developed the Text Chrome App. It is very sad that you did not work to migrate this to a native PWA app, like some you have eg Cursive, Screencast, ...

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