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What should I do in the first hour with Notepad++?

Finish the install, confirm the file is genuine, then spend a few minutes on updates, encoding and plugins. The eight steps below take about an hour including trying each feature, and every menu path comes from the official user manual.

1. Finish the installer. Open the downloaded .exe from your Downloads folder and choose Yes on the User Account Control prompt; the installer writes to Program Files. Keep the default components so Edit with Notepad++ appears on the Explorer right-click menu.
2. Check the file first if you want certainty. Before running it, Get-FileHash in PowerShell gives the file's SHA-256. It must match the digest shown in the download box above and on the GitHub release; if it does not, delete the file.
3. Choose how updates arrive. Settings, Preferences, MISC holds the auto-updater choice: prompt at launch, prompt at exit or off. The built-in updater waits a week or two after each release; winget upgrade gets a new version sooner.
4. Set UTF-8 for new documents. Settings, Preferences, New Document sets the encoding and line endings every new file starts with. UTF-8 avoids mangled accents when files move between Windows, macOS and Linux.
5. Pick a theme you can read all day. Settings, Style Configurator switches the colour theme; the installer ships several dark and light themes. Settings, Preferences, Dark Mode switches the window chrome to match.
6. Add the plugins you need. Plugins, Plugins Admin lists reviewed plugins such as Compare and XML Tools. Tick one, choose Install and let Notepad++ restart; the plugins guide covers the useful ones.
7. Open a folder as a workspace. File, Open Folder as Workspace shows a project folder in a side panel, so you can move between files without the Open dialog. It is the closest Notepad++ gets to a project view.
8. Learn Find in Files. Search, Find in Files (Ctrl+Shift+F) searches or replaces across a whole folder, with regular expressions if you tick that option. It is the feature most people install Notepad++ for.

Two habits keep Notepad++ useful. Update when a release lists vulnerability fixes, because the editor opens files from anywhere. And save files in UTF-8 unless a program tells you otherwise, so the text reads the same on every machine it reaches.