Version 26.3

October 7, 2026

General New Features

  • Added Fast View mode for huge files. Fast View opens a huge file almost instantly in read-only mode without loading the whole file into memory: EmEditor finds the positions of the lines in the background, and reads only the lines that are displayed. You can jump to the end of the document immediately after you start opening a file, while EmEditor is still finding the positions of the lines; the line numbers are not displayed until the positions are found. Files larger than the Minimum file size to enable Fast View mode (4,096 MB by default) are opened in Fast View mode automatically, and a notification appears when a file is opened in Fast View mode. To switch between the normal mode and Fast View mode, select Fast View on the Edit menu. [PF]

  • In Fast View mode, you can:

    • Scroll, select (including vertical selection), copy (including Copy in Quotes), Jump, and Tag Jump. [PF]

    • Display highlighted strings, comments, quoted strings, markers, Marks, and the Ruler, and Add to Markers. [PF]

    • Find text, including regular expressions, the Number range and Fuzzy options, and counting the matches. [PF]

    • Reload in a different encoding, including binary views, and Save As with a different encoding or newline characters. [PF]

    • Compare documents, including with a document in the normal mode. [PF]

    • Run external tools. [PF]

    • Extract with the Find dialog box, Multi-Find with the Batch Find dialog box, and filter and extract with the Filter toolbar. [P]

    • Use CSV modes, the Large File Controller, macros, plug-ins, and the AI menu. [P]

  • In Fast View mode, the number of bookmarks is limited to 100,000 per document, the number of found string markers on the vertical scroll bar is limited to 100,000, and the Incremental search options are disabled. [PF]

  • The following features are not currently supported in Fast View mode:

    • Minimap

    • Markdown Design View

    • Open Filter in the Large File Controller

    • Verify, Print, and Print Preview on the File menu

    • Multiple selections

    • Auto Copy

    • Invert Bookmarks

    • Syntax Checker, Outline Bar, and Outline Guide

    • Cell Selection Mode, Hide Quotes Temporarily, Hide/Unhide Columns, Reset Column Width, and Align Left/Center/Right on the CSV menu

    • Any other commands that change the document

  • In Fast View mode, the Prompt if a null character is found and Prompt if an invalid character is found options check only the beginning of the file, not the whole file as in the normal mode. See the File page of the Properties dialog box for details. [PF]

  • Opening a huge file, and finding, filtering, and extracting in it, are faster in Fast View mode than in the previous version, even when the file is much larger than the physical memory. See the test results below.

Test results:

v26.2

v26.3

Comparison

Open

30.2 seconds

6.61 seconds

4.57 times faster

Find "abcde" (count matches)

37.0 seconds

7.64 seconds

4.84 times faster

Filter "abcde"

69.6 seconds

7.53 seconds

9.24 times faster

Extract "abcde" in the Find dialog box

103 seconds

9.70 seconds

10.6 times faster

Find "[a-c]{5}" (regular expression, count matches)

198 seconds

124 seconds

1.60 times faster

  • A random ASCII file (UTF-8, 48.4 GB, 1 billion lines), default options, Windows 11, Ryzen 9 7950X.

  • 96 GB of physical memory, limited with bcdedit /set {current} truncatememory 17179869184 to simulate 16 GB of RAM.

  • v26.3: opened in Fast View mode.

New Options

  • Added the Minimum file size to enable Fast View mode text box to the Advanced page of the Customize dialog box. [PF]

  • Added the Fast View mode check box to the Large File Controller. [P]

New Macro Features [P]

Plug-in New Features [P]

  • Added the EI_GET_FAST_VIEW parameter to the EE_INFO message.

  • Added the EEID_FAST_VIEW command ID.

  • The messages that read the document or move the cursor can now be used in Fast View mode. Messages that change the document fail in Fast View mode.

  • Explorer: The plug-in now uses the dialog box font size specified on the Window page of the Customize dialog box.

  • Chat with AI

    • Added per-chat AI settings. Per-chat settings apply only to one chat, and changing them does not affect the global settings.

    • Added an AI model and tools indicator to the chat input box. It displays the current AI model and the selected tools for the chat. Clicking the model name opens the Settings dialog box.

    • Added MCP connectors, which connect the AI to external services. Currently, only HTTP servers are supported (STDIO and SSE connections are not supported).

    • Added the MCP Connectors page to the Settings dialog box. You can add new connectors using the JSON configuration of an MCP server.

    • Added the EmEditor Help Pages connector. The AI can use this connector to access up-to-date EmEditor help pages, which gives better answers than web search tools.

Notes

  • [P] EmEditor Professional only

  • [PF] EmEditor Professional and EmEditor Free