v8.8.2 available in 1 week, without certificate

2025-06-25

The Notepad++ code signing certificate issued by DigiCert expired on the May 15, 2025. Unfortunately it seems the project no longer meets the validation criteria, and the publisher name “Notepad++” has been rejected. I fully understand the validation team’s position and want to thank DigiCert for their generous donation of 3 certificates over 9 years (2016 - 2025).

Notepad++ is an open source project without a registered business entity, which makes traditional validation challenging. We’re currently seeking a certificate authority that can issue a code signing certificate directly to “Notepad++” rather than to an individual. If you’re able to provide such a certificate, or know an organization that can, please don’t hesitate to get in touch - we’d greatly appreciate your help.

In the meantime, development continues. Notepad++ v8.8.2 will be released within a week. As mentioned above, this release will not be signed with a Windows code signing certificate. However, since v7.6.6, GPG signatures have always been included with Notepad++ released binaries. You can use Gpg4win or Kleopatra to verify the authenticity of the downloaded files.

Apologies for the inconvenience - like many of you, we’re hopeful we can find a solution ASAP!