How to delete Notepad cache in Windows 11 Pro?

Question

Hello,

I used Notepad (just regular Notepad, not Notepad++) to open a somewhat sensitive file on a USB drive, then closed Notepad and removed the USB drive. Now I notice that when I open Notepad again, it automatically opens up the same file even with the USB drive not plugged in, so it obviously cached the file somewhere. Where is this cache? I'd like to shred the file. I looked in Users/<username>AppData/Roaming/, but I see nothing there for Notepad. There is no option to get the file location from within Notepad itself, something like 'File--> properties'. Both 'File --> Open' and 'File--> Save as' just default to my documents folder, and the file in question is not there. I am using Windows 11 Pro.

I know that Notepad settings can be changed to not open content from the previous session, but my priority right now is shredding the file from my drive.

Thanks for any help.

Answer 1

Resetting Notepad should purge the confidential file from the caches.

Open Settings, Apps.

Click Installed Apps.

Search for Notepad.

Click on the ellipsis icon adjacent to "Notepad", and click "Advanced options"

.

In the resulting screen, click "Reset".

Answer 2

Thanks Ramesh!! I had never even heard of sDelete. I'm running it now...

Answer 3

The file was probably opening because it was saved in the Windows file explorer. As you cleaned it, it was deleted and should only be opened again if you open it via USB.