UltraEdit 2025.1 release blog

We’re back with UltraEdit 2025.1, a release focused on improving what you already have rather than reinventing them. This update strengthens three development areas that were requested by our users: smarter, more practical AI assistance, more secure file transfers, and expanded data format support. 

Whether you’re handling massive datasets, collaborating across secure networks, or working with electronic data interchange formats, this release has something meaningful for your daily work.

If you want to skip reading and trust that there’s something for you in the release, you can get the newest versions right away in our download pages for UltraEdit or UEStudio.

Enhanced Pieces plugin: context-aware AI that actually understands your project

The UltraEdit Pieces plugin gets a significant upgrade that addresses one of the most common user requests – better project awareness. Previously, when you asked the AI for help, it only knew about your current selection or active file. Now you have three new context options that give the AI much better understanding of what you’re working on:

New Pieces plugin Query Context Settings let you control exactly what files the AI can access for more relevant assistance.

• All Open Files: Share your entire working session with the AI, perfect for multi-file projects where context matters across documents.
• Project Files: When you’re working with loaded projects, the AI can now access all project files to provide more accurate suggestions and assistance.
• Active File Folder: Include all files in the same directory as your current file, ideal for working with related file sets.

These options are completely optional and turned off by default – you control exactly what context you want to share. Enabling them just allows Pieces to provide much more relevant suggestions when refactoring code, analyzing data patterns, or working with interconnected files.

Note: Pieces now requires account registration to use the service.

Choose your interface language: No more reinstalling required

International and multi-lingual users can now switch UltraEdit’s interface language without the hassle of reinstalling the application. 

Previously, users who wanted to work in Japanese, German, Spanish, or other supported languages had to use different installers for a completely different language-specific version of UltraEdit.

UltraEdit interface language set to German.

This feature initially came from specific requests made by IT admins and product deployment specialists to help support a multilingual user base and their deployment needs—and now we’re extending that to the general user base as well.

The new language selection option appears under Configuration → Application Layout. 

The new interface languages include previously available languages such as Chinese (Traditional and Simplified), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish. Simply select your preferred language, restart UltraEdit, and the entire interface—menus, dialogs, and messages—switches to your chosen language.

Switch UltraEdit’s interface language directly from Configuration without reinstalling—available in 10+ languages.

Modernized FTP/FTPS/SFTP: Security standards to keep you connected

File transfer security isn’t optional anymore, and we’ve completely modernized our FTP component to meet today’s standards. This update brings substantial improvements across all secure transfer protocols:

New ECDSA Support: We’ve added support for the elliptic curve encryption algorithms that many organizations now require:

• ecdsa-sha2-nistp256
• ecdsa-sha2-nistp384
• ecdsa-sha2-nistp512

We’ve enhanced Algorithm Support with improved compatibility with modern encryption standards including rsa-sha2-256, rsa-sha2-512, ed25519, and advanced cipher modes like chacha20-poly1305. This should result in better connection and more consistent reliability for users who experienced intermittent connection issues with ED25519. 

This isn’t just about checking security boxes. It also means you can now connect to systems that were previously inaccessible due to newer security requirements and compliance restrictions. And of course, you can rest assured that your existing connections will be more stable and secure.

Built-in EDI Support: Electronic Data Interchange Made Simple

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) support joins our default language set, responding to requests from enterprise customers who work with structured business data daily.

Out-of-the-Box EDI: Two new wordfiles are now included by default:

• US EDI standard support
• European/International EDI standard support

EDI files now open by default with proper syntax highlighting and structure recognition automatically – no configuration needed.

EDI files now feature automatic syntax highlighting with color-coded segments, elements, and separators for improved readability. EDI is now also shown in the list of default language and formats.

Protip: If you’re also using other formats and languages and find there’s no syntax support, check out our wordfile database and see if we have support for it. Learn how to add a wordfile by visiting our wordfiles downloads page.

This is just the beginning of our EDI roadmap. We have additional EDI enhancements planned for future releases in 2025, including specialized editing tools and validation features.

Other notable improvements and bug fixes:

Data handling workflows get smoother with improvements across specialized editing modes. The JSON Manager now provides better visual clarity with improved theming and properly highlights negative numbers, while Column Mode delivers more precise mouse selection and reliable paste operations. 

Hex Mode users will appreciate enhanced keyboard navigation for byte deletion and more stable multi-caret editing when working with binary data.

Automation and system integration become more reliable with fixes to the macro system, including proper hotkey persistence and better support for network-stored macros across localized versions. Additionally, enhanced URL parsing handles complex web addresses more accurately, and shell integration now works seamlessly even with extremely long file paths that previously caused context menu issues.

The improved JSON Manager handles large datasets with better theming, parsing consistency, and proper negative number highlighting.

Here is the complete list of refinements that improve day-to-day usage:

• Select UI language from application Configuration without reinstalling
• JSON Manager: improved dialog and control theme contrast
• JSON Manager: Parsing cancel and restart inconsistencies
• JSON Manager: negative numbers are highlighted incorrectly
• Improved selection accuracy  in column mode with mouse
• Unable to customize context menu with specific settings
• Improved URL parsing and display
• Recent file list display issue in Command Palette
• Improved Hex Mode byte deletion using keyboard
• Caret is lost with split window multi-caret editing
• UltraEdit erroneous new line after paste in Find when in Column mode
• Customer sees “Error in Macro” when trying to run basic macro
• Hotkeys specified for macros are not saved properly
• UC Lite is opened for file compare rather than specified third party tool
• Plugins not shown correctly in localized builds in traditional menus
• Crash after entering Git credentials
• UltraEdit does not show up in shell extension menu for files with very long paths
• Impossible to enable a pre-installed plugin once it’s been disabled
• Add accelerator for “Show hints” in Contemporary menu
• Newly created/saved macro is not added to Macro List
• Status bar should indicate the offset at the end of the selection
• Focus doesn’t return to active file when hex find/replace is closed with ESC
• Improved setting state handling when switching between tabs in Hex Find/Replace dialog
• “Error in Macro” reported when loading macro from mounted Google drive
• Docked hex find/replace dialog doesn’t work like other docked windows
• ASCII only options should be disabled in HEX Find/Replace window if Find ASCII not enabled
• Add accelerator for “Edit macros” for traditional menus

Looking Forward

This release represents our commitment to improving the UE toolset for your daily use, rather than just adding new features for the sake of new stuff… However, if you do have any requests on your wishlists, we will also gladly hear them—just send us a message.

The enhanced Pieces integration gives you smarter AI assistance—but only when you need it. The modernized FTP support may not be important for all our users, but for the subset that do, hopefully it helps manage your files. Lastly, the built-in EDI support simplifies working with business data formats. And we have a lot more planned for this use case as we have continuously 

As always, UltraEdit 2025.1 is available as a free update for all current users. New users can start with a free trial to experience these improvements firsthand.

We’re already working on the next wave of improvements for 2025.2, including more EDI features and additional AI integrations. Keep the feedback coming – it drives everything we build.

UltraEdit and UEStudio 2025.1 is available immediately for Windows. Existing users can update through the application or download from the download page.

Happy editing.