notepad-plus-plus / notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus

[BUG] Dark mode blinking cursor creates weird visuals

Open
#16,368 0 comments 1 reaction 0 assignees View on GitHub

Nobody has claimed this yet.

Dominant language
C++
Stars
29.4k
Forks
5.4k
PR merge metrics
No merged PRs in 30d

Description

Is there an existing issue for this?
  • I have searched the existing issues
Description of the Issue

When in dark mode, and the document is selected and has a blinking cursor, after some seconds it blurs the characters and creates a cascade of visuals from them, if clicked it clears everything but the cycle restarts

Steps To Reproduce
  1. Prerequisites: dark mode
  2. Open a text file with Notepad++
  3. Write more than one line, any text
  4. Click anywhere on the document so that the cursor is set and blinking
  5. Wait for 5 seconds or mpre
Current Behavior

The characters become blurry and like a halo comes from them that propagates outward (I am not on shrooms even though it sounds like I am xD)

Expected Behavior

The characters and all of the text remains the same, and nothing happens outside of it.

Debug Information
Notepad++ v8.7.9   (64-bit)
Build time : Mar 26 2025 - 03:20:28
Scintilla/Lexilla included : 5.5.5/5.4.3
Boost Regex included : 1_85
Path : C:\Program Files\Notepad++\notepad++.exe
Command Line : "C:\catalix-person\AutomationTest\Generic_Keywords\temp_files\custom_csv_file.csv" 
Admin mode : OFF
Local Conf mode : OFF
Cloud Config : OFF
Periodic Backup : ON
Placeholders : OFF
Scintilla Rendering Mode : SC_TECHNOLOGY_DIRECTWRITE (1)
Multi-instance Mode : monoInst
File Status Auto-Detection : cdEnabledNew (for current file/tab only)
Dark Mode : ON
OS Name : Windows 11 Enterprise (64-bit)
OS Version : 23H2
OS Build : 22631.5039
Current ANSI codepage : 1252
Plugins : 
    ComparePlus (1.1)
    mimeTools (3.1)
    NppConverter (4.6)
    NppExport (0.4)
Anything else?

Image

Image

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

No source files, tests, or entry points are named. First reproduce the issue on Windows 11 with dark mode, DirectWrite rendering, and a blinking cursor, then trace the editor's dark-mode and cursor rendering paths. Done means the documented text remains sharp without halo or cascading visuals during the reproduction steps.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
cpp
Domain
desktop
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
38/100

Get new issues in your inbox

A short digest of beginner-friendly GitHub issues.