I have created a tool called "NotepadOpenLink" that adds the ability to open a selected link (URL) to the new Windows 11 Notepad, as well as the ability to search for a selected string in the default browser, so I would like to introduce it to you.
There are four functions to choose from.
- Search Google (default browser)
- Search with Bing (default browser)
- Open the selected URL in Edge
- Open the selected URL in Chrome
How to use and download "NotepadOpenLink"
How To Use
ToolsTask tray (notification area)It is a type that resides in the background, so if you register it in startup, it will run automatically when Windows 11 starts up.
*The tool will be displayed in English if the OS language (system locale) is not Japanese.
How to register for a startup
1. First, download the "NotepadOpenLink.zip"UnzipI will do it.
2. Right-click on "NotepadOpenLink.exe" > More options > "Create shortcut".
3. A shortcut will be created, so right-click on the shortcut and cut it.
4. Press Windows Key + R to open Run, type the following command and press Enter:
%AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup5. The Startup folder will open, so right-click inside the folder and paste.
Now that it has been registered in the startup list, it will run automatically the next time you start your PC.
If you want to run it immediately, double-click the shortcut.
Once the tool is launched, select the function you want to use from the "Options" menu in the right-click menu of the icon.
*The tool icon displayed on the taskbar is the old Notepad icon.
By default, "Open selected URLs in Edge" is checked.
The features selected in the options will be added to Notepad.
This menu will appear when you right-click on the area surrounded by the blue frame in the image below.
Also, the F2 key is assigned as a hotkey, so you can either click the menu or use the F2 key.
If you select "Search Google (default browser)"
If you select "Search Google (default browser)," select the string you want to search for in Notepad and click "Search Google (F2)" or press the F2 key to open your default browser and perform the search.
Google is searching for the string you selected.
If you select "Search with Bing (default browser)"
If you select "Search with Bing (default browser)," select the string you want to search for in Notepad and click "Search with Bing (F2)" or press the F2 key to open your default browser and search.
Bing is searching for the string you selected.
If you select "Open selected URL in Edge"
If you select "Open selected URL in Edge," select the URL you want to open and click "Open selected URL in Edge (F2)" or press the F2 key to open the URL in Edge.
If you select "Open selected URL in Chrome"
If you select "Open selected URL in Chrome," select the URL you want to open and click "Open selected URL in Chrome (F2)" or press the F2 key to open the URL in Chrome.
To open a URL
- The browser will not open if the selected URL has line breaks before or after it.
- If there is a space before or after the selected URL, the browser will open.
- If the selected URL does not begin with "https://" or "http://", the browser will not open.
- If Edge or Chrome is not found, an error will be displayed.
When searching on Google or Bing
- When searching on Google or Bing, if no text is selected, menu clicks and hotkeys (F2) will not respond.
How the tool works
- While the tool is running, the menu will only be added when the new Notepad in Windows 11 is active. The hotkey (F2) will also only work when the new Notepad is active.
- The selected text is copied to the clipboard by pressing Ctrl + C. The text originally on the clipboard is first saved in memory, and then the text in memory is restored after the selected text is retrieved.
- It is possible to get the selected text without using the clipboard, but in some cases it may not be possible to get it accurately, so I decided to use the clipboard.
- The tool uses about 17MB of memory and very little CPU.
- When you change options from the task tray icon, the settings are saved in the registry so that they can be loaded the next time you start the program.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\NotepadOpenLink
Points to note
- Because the clipboard is used, the copied information of images and files other than text will be lost from the clipboard. For example, if you search for selected text with a tool before copying and pasting an image, the copied information will be lost. Please note that in this case, you will need to copy the image again.
- It may not work properly on a virtual machine.
materials
2024/02/08 Ver.1.0.0.0 released.
2024/02/12 Ver.1.0.0.1 released.
- Fixed an issue where searches could not be performed correctly if the search string contained special characters.
Target file: "NotepadOpenLink.exe" (Ver 1.0.0.1)
ハッシュ値(SHA256):28879c50845e1dcf738bf5049221add162b9670b1a31780d30f5f1f41768d011
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