Slate

A fast, simple text editor that opens files of any size.

An 810 MB JSON file on screen in 14 ms. All 435,571 matches of a search in it counted in 0.3 s.

Download for Windows Slate.exe, signed Linux and Raspberry Pi Source on GitHub

Free and open source (MIT). Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit); Debian 12, Raspberry Pi OS 12, Ubuntu 23.04 and newer. All releases

Slate opening an 810 MB JSON file, jumping to its last line, finding 435,571 matches in 0.3 seconds, and showing the structure of a 2-million-item list

A better Notepad, for files of any size

Huge files, instantly

Nothing is loaded up front: only what's on screen is read and drawn. Logs, database dumps and exports of hundreds of megabytes open, scroll and search like small ones.

Fast find and replace

Match case, whole word and regular expressions. The matches are counted as you type, on files of any size, without freezing the window.

Never loses your work

Tabs and unsaved changes come back after a restart, big files included. Anything Slate can't keep is asked about first.

Colors for 52 languages

Python, PowerShell, C, C#, Rust, JavaScript, SQL, HTML, CSS, Markdown, YAML, logs, CSV with a color per column, G-code, PPCL and more.

JSON and XML tools

Format, minify and check. A path bar shows where the cursor is (orders › [1203] › name) and a structure panel browses the tree, on huge files too.

Small, signed, up to date

One signed Slate.exe on Windows that updates itself; a .deb with its own apt repository on Linux. No accounts, no tracking.

Windows and Linux

Slate on Windows in the dark theme, with a JSON file, the path bar and the structure panel
Windows, dark theme: a JSON file with the path bar and the structure panel.
Slate on Linux showing a Python file
Linux (GTK 4), light theme: the same engine, colors and editing.

Install

Windows 10 and 11

Download Slate.exe and run it from any folder; Help → Open files with Slate… adds it to the Start menu and to "Open with". It's signed by James Cupps. It checks for updates once a day and installs them with one click.

Linux and Raspberry Pi (64-bit)

In a terminal; the package adds Slate's apt repository, so sudo apt upgrade keeps it up to date:

wget -O /tmp/slate.deb https://github.com/jamesccupps/Slate/releases/latest/download/slate-linux-$(dpkg --print-architecture).deb
sudo apt install /tmp/slate.deb

Or add the repository yourself and install it by name:

sudo wget -O /usr/share/keyrings/slate-archive-keyring.gpg https://jamesccupps.github.io/Slate/apt/slate-archive-keyring.gpg
echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/slate-archive-keyring.gpg] https://jamesccupps.github.io/Slate/apt stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/slate.list
sudo apt update && sudo apt install slate

Feedback

Slate is young and improving quickly. Found a bug or have an idea? Open an issue or say hello in Discussions. On Windows, Help → Report a problem… fills in the version for you.