Last reviewed: October 2026. If FileZilla reports that it cannot find notepad.exe when you choose View/Edit, inspect FileZilla’s editor setting and the association for the affected file extension. The Windows and FileZilla versions for this failure were not recorded, so the steps below follow FileZilla’s published settings documentation.
Find the setting responsible
- In FileZilla Client on Windows, open Edit → Settings → File editing.
- Check the selected default editor. If it points to an old executable path, choose Use system’s default editor for text files or Use custom editor and browse to the editor that actually exists on your machine.
- Open File editing → Filetype associations. Copy the existing entries to a temporary text note before changing them.
- Find the line for the extension that fails, such as
phportxt. Repair or remove that line only. Keep unrelated associations.
FileZilla’s official editor guide shows the current settings path and the distinction between a default editor and per-extension associations. It also says to enable Use filetype associations if available when you want those entries applied.
Use a per-extension entry only when needed
For example, FileZilla documents this entry for opening PHP files with Windows Notepad:
php "C:\Windows\notepad.exe"The first item is the extension, without a dot; the second is the editor executable. Quote paths that contain spaces. Confirm the executable exists on your PC, since installation paths and preferred editors vary. For a different extension, replace php with that extension. The previously suggested / C:\Windows\System32\notepad.exe line and advice to delete every entry were not supported by FileZilla’s documented per-extension syntax.
If you want one editor for ordinary text files rather than a custom rule for every extension, set it under File editing instead. FileZilla’s association instructions show how these two settings interact.
Verify without risking a live file
Save the settings, then use View/Edit on a disposable text file on a server you control. Confirm that the intended editor opens it. If you make a test edit, review FileZilla’s upload prompt before replacing the remote file. If the same error remains, inspect the exact extension line and the executable path again; a Windows file association outside FileZilla may also be involved when the system editor option is selected.
Keep the saved original entries until the affected file type works. If the change makes editing worse, restore only the line or editor setting you changed. The FileZilla project site provides the official client download.
