Hello, @donho and developers,

Is there an existing issue for this?

• I have searched the existing issues

Description of the Issue

With the 8.8.6 release, when the Fill Find Field with Selected Text option is unchecked ( and, thus, the Select Word Under Caret when Nothing Selected option, as well ), as shown below :

The two commands Select and Find Next ( Ctrl + F3 ) and Select and Find Previous ( Ctrl + Shift + F3 ) do not work anymore !

With the 8.8.5 release, when the Fill Find Field with Selected Text option is unchecked ( and, thus, the Select Word Under Caret when Nothing Selected option, as well ), as shown below :

The two commands Select and Find Next ( Ctrl + F3 ) and Select and Find Previous ( Ctrl + Shift + F3 ) still work properly

Steps To Reproduce

• Download the two portable releases 8.8.5 and 8.8.6 in two different folders

• Open each release for the first time

• In Settings > Preferences... > Searching panel, uncheck the Fill Find Field with Selected Text option, for each release

• Open the change.log file, for each release

• Within the 8.8.6 release, put the caret right before a Fix word of the change.log file

• Hit the Ctrl + F3 shortcut

Current Behavior

=> Nothing happened : No search at all with the Ctrl + F3 shortcut. Idem behavior with the Ctrl + Shift + F3 shortcut

Expected Behavior

=> The search should work and select the next or previous word Fix, with the Ctrl + F3 and Ctrl + Shift + F3 shortcuts

With the 8.8.5 release, this same search works properly and select the next or previous word Fix, with the Ctrl + F3 and Ctrl + Shift + F3 shortcuts, although the Fill Find Field with Selected Yext option is unchecked !

Remarks :

• When the two options Fill Find Field with Selected Text and Select Word Under Caret when Nothing Selected are checked again, no problem occurs and the two commands Select and Find Next ( Ctrl + F3 ) and Select and Find Previous ( Ctrl + Shift + F3 work as expected with the two releases

• This bug is still present in 8.8.8 release

• @don-ho, don't take in account the fixes that I proposed at the end of the post https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/103824 !

• May be, the @alankilborn's comment in https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/103860 is pertinent ?

Debug Information

Regarding  Notepad++ 8.8.5 :

Notepad++ v8.8.5   (64-bit)
Build time: Aug 14 2025 - 00:32:39
Scintilla/Lexilla included: 5.5.7/5.4.5
Boost Regex included: 1_85
Path: D:\TEST\885_x64\notepad++.exe
Command Line: 
Admin mode: OFF
Local Conf mode: ON
Cloud Config: OFF
Periodic Backup: OFF
Placeholders: OFF
Scintilla Rendering Mode: SC_TECHNOLOGY_DIRECTWRITE (1)
Multi-instance Mode: monoInst
asNotepad: OFF
File Status Auto-Detection: cdEnabledNew (for current file/tab only)
Dark Mode: OFF
Display Info:
    primary monitor: 1920x1080, scaling 125%
    visible monitors count: 1
    installed Display Class adapters: 
        0001: Description - Intel(R) Iris(R) Xe Graphics
        0001: DriverVersion - 32.0.101.6314
OS Name: Windows 11 Pro (64-bit)
OS Version: 25H2
OS Build: 26200.7171
Current ANSI codepage: 1252
Plugins: 
    mimeTools (3.1)
    NppConverter (4.6)
    NppExport (0.4)


Regarding  Notepad++ 8.8.6 :

Notepad++ v8.8.6   (64-bit)
Build time: Oct  7 2025 - 13:44:28
Scintilla/Lexilla included: 5.5.7/5.4.5
Boost Regex included: 1_85
Path: D:\TEST\866_x64\notepad++.exe
Command Line: 
Admin mode: OFF
Local Conf mode: ON
Cloud Config: OFF
Periodic Backup: OFF
Placeholders: OFF
Scintilla Rendering Mode: SC_TECHNOLOGY_DIRECTWRITE (1)
Multi-instance Mode: monoInst
asNotepad: OFF
File Status Auto-Detection: cdEnabledNew (for current file/tab only)
Dark Mode: OFF
Display Info:
    primary monitor: 1920x1080, scaling 125%
    visible monitors count: 1
    installed Display Class adapters: 
        0001: Description - Intel(R) Iris(R) Xe Graphics
        0001: DriverVersion - 32.0.101.6314
OS Name: Windows 11 Pro (64-bit)
OS Version: 25H2
OS Build: 26200.7171
Current ANSI codepage: 1252
Plugins: 
    mimeTools (3.1)
    NppConverter (4.7)
    NppExport (0.4)

Best Regards,

guy038