[autocomplete] How do I stop Notepad++ from showing autocomplete for all words in the file

I'm trying to use Notepad++ with the Progress programming language.

I have installed the language definition in %APPDATA%\Roaming\Notepad++ as userDefineLang.xml and syntax highlighting is working correctly.

I've put a file in the notepad++ Plugins\APIs directory named progress.xml, but the contents are not recognized by Notepad++.

I've also removed all the other language files from that directory and Notepad++ still shows the exact same autocomplete suggestions it did before I removed them.

Also, when typing in a program, it looks like every word in the file is an auto-complete suggestion, not just the keywords or function names.

Anyone know how to track this down?

This question is related to autocomplete notepad++

The answer is


The answer is to DISABLE "Enable auto-completion on each input". Tested and works perfectly.


Notepad++ provides 2 types of features:

  • Auto-completion that read the open file and provide suggestion of words and/or functions within the file
  • Suggestion with the arguments of functions (specific to the language)

Based on what you write, it seems what you want is auto-completion on function only + suggestion on arguments.

To do that, you just need to change a setting.

  1. Go to Settings > Preferences... > Auto-completion
  2. Check Enable Auto-completion on each input
  3. Select Function completion and not Word completion
  4. Check Function parameter hint on input (if you have this option)

On version 6.5.5 of Notepad++, I have this setting settings

Some documentation about auto-completion is available in Notepad++ Wiki.