Can you drag a text file onto a notepad to open it?

Yes. Drag a text file from Explorer and drop it anywhere on the Jotter by Zaweba window, and it opens in a tab of its own. Drop several files at once and each gets its own tab. If one of them is already open, Jotter simply switches to its tab instead of opening a second copy.

It is often the quickest way to open a file you can already see in a folder, quicker than going through an Open dialog.

How it behaves

A few small details make dropping files pleasant. If the current tab is blank, Jotter reuses it for the first file rather than leaving an empty tab behind. Files you drop keep their encoding and line endings when you later save them, so a UTF-8 file stays UTF-8 and a Unix file keeps its LF endings. Any plain text file up to 64 MB will open.

Each tab shows the file's name, and a dot appears on the tab when you change something and haven't yet saved.

Other ways to open files

File > Open does the same job, and you can pick several files at once in the dialog. Files can also be given to Jotter on the command line, which is useful if you open text files from a script or a shortcut.

If you set Jotter to open .txt files from Explorer, double-clicking a file sends it to the Jotter window that's already open, as a new tab, rather than starting a second Jotter. That keeps everything in one window with one set of tabs. The hand-off uses a private channel that only your own Windows user can open.

Jobs where dragging helps

Comparing a few files is easier with them side by side as tabs. Select them in Explorer, drag them all onto Jotter, then flick between them with Ctrl+Tab, or jump to one with Ctrl+1 to 8.

Checking a file is another. Drop it on Jotter, look at the status bar for its encoding and line endings, read what you need, and close the tab with Ctrl+W. If you didn't change anything, it closes without a question.

Taking a quick look inside a log or settings file without opening a heavyweight program is a third. Jotter is a small program that starts in a moment, so it suits these quick peeks.

After you have finished

Close tabs you no longer need with Ctrl+W, the x on the tab, or a middle-click. If a tab has unsaved changes, Jotter asks first. If you close the whole program instead, it asks nothing and brings every tab back next time, including files you dropped and unsaved notes, so you can carry on where you left off.

What it won't open

Jotter is for plain text, so dropping a Word document or a spreadsheet won't give you a readable result. For formatted documents, Write by Zaweba is the better choice. For anything that is plain text underneath, from notes and logs to scripts and configuration files, dropping it on Jotter by Zaweba is all it takes.