Retropad User Guide

Welcome to retropad - a lightweight, feature-rich text editor for Windows!

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Getting Started

Installation

1. Download retropad-1.1.0.zip
2. Extract to your desired location (e.g., C:\Program Files\retropad)
3. Run retropad.exe
4. (Optional) Create a Windows Start Menu shortcut

No installation required - retropad is fully portable!

System Requirements

• Windows 7 or later
• 5 MB disk space
• Display resolution: 800x600 minimum (1920x1080 recommended)

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Basic Usage

Opening & Creating Files

• New File: Ctrl+N or File → New
• Open File: Ctrl+O or File → Open
• Save File: Ctrl+S or File → Save
• Save As: Ctrl+Shift+S or File → Save As
• Recent Files: File → Recent Files (quick access)

Editing

Text Selection & Navigation

• Select All: Ctrl+A
• Copy: Ctrl+C
• Cut: Ctrl+X
• Paste: Ctrl+V
• Undo: Ctrl+Z
• Redo: Ctrl+Y

Finding & Replacing

• Find: Ctrl+F - Search for text in your document
• Replace: Ctrl+H - Find and replace text
• Find Next: F3 or press Enter in Find dialog
• Case Sensitive: Enable checkbox to match uppercase/lowercase exactly

Text Formatting

• Word Wrap: View → Word Wrap (toggle on/off)
  • ON: Text wraps to window width automatically
  • OFF: Horizontal scrolling for long lines

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Settings & Customization

Access Settings via: File → Settings (or press Ctrl+Shift+,)

Display Settings

Font Customization

• Click "Select Font" to choose typeface, size, and style
• Changes apply immediately to current document
• Recommended: Consolas, Courier New, or Segoe UI Mono for coding

Word Wrap

• Toggle automatic line wrapping
• Enable for reading documents
• Disable for editing code with long lines

Status Bar Visibility

• Show/hide the bottom status bar
• Status bar displays: file path, cursor position, encoding, line/column count

Dark Mode

• Toggle dark mode theme on/off
• Dark mode features:
  • Dark text editor background (RGB 30, 30, 30)
  • Light gray text (RGB 230, 230, 230)
  • Dark window borders and frame (Windows 10+)
  • Dark status bar
  • Reduces eye strain in low-light environments
• Settings are saved automatically and applied on next startup
• Menu bar (File/Edit/etc.) remains light due to Windows limitations

File Settings

Text Encoding (shown in status bar)

• Automatically detected on file open
• Auto-save includes current encoding
• Supported formats: UTF-8, UTF-16, ANSI (CP1252)

Auto-save Interval

• Enable automatic saving at regular intervals
• Set interval: 1-60 minutes
• Useful for preventing accidental data loss
• Files saved to original location

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Advanced Features

Status Bar Information

Bottom of window shows:

• File Path: Full path to current document
• Cursor Position: Line and column numbers
• Encoding: Current file encoding (UTF-8, ANSI, etc.)
• Line Count: Total lines in document

File Encoding Detection

retropad automatically detects:

• UTF-8 (with or without BOM)
• UTF-16 (LE/BE with BOM)
• ANSI (Windows-1252)

Falls back to ANSI if detection fails.

Settings Persistence

Your preferences are saved automatically:

• Font selection & size
• Window size & position
• Word wrap preference
• Status bar visibility
• Auto-save settings

All settings stored securely in Windows Registry (per-user).

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Tips & Tricks

Productivity

• Use Ctrl+F to quickly find recurring text
• Ctrl+H for bulk replacements across entire document
• Ctrl+A then select font to format all text at once
• Enable auto-save for important documents

Performance

• For very large files (>100 MB), disable Word Wrap
• Close unused windows to free memory
• Auto-save intervals: 5-15 minutes recommended for active editing

Keyboard Shortcuts Reference

Action	Shortcut
New	Ctrl+N
Open	Ctrl+O
Save	Ctrl+S
Save As	Ctrl+Shift+S
Find	Ctrl+F
Replace	Ctrl+H
Find Next	F3
Settings	Ctrl+Shift+,
Select All	Ctrl+A
Copy	Ctrl+C
Cut	Ctrl+X
Paste	Ctrl+V
Undo	Ctrl+Z
Redo	Ctrl+Y

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Troubleshooting

Common Issues

"File not found" error

• Verify file path is correct
• Check file permissions (read-only?)
• Try opening with File → Open dialog

Encoding issues (garbled text)

• Check encoding in status bar
• Try different encoding in Settings
• UTF-8 recommended for web content

Auto-save not working

• Ensure file location is writable
• Check auto-save is enabled in Settings
• Verify sufficient disk space available

Settings not saving

• Run retropad as Administrator
• Check Windows Registry permissions
• Restart application after Settings change

Getting Help

• Check this User Guide
• Review Settings dialog tooltips
• Ensure Windows is up-to-date

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System Information

• Version: 1.1.0
• Release Date: Mon 12/08/2025
• Built with: Visual Studio 2022 MSVC v143
• Platform: Windows (32-bit/64-bit compatible)
• License: MIT License - See LICENSE file for details

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Enjoy retropad! For feedback or bug reports, visit the official repository.