Ligatures don't work in Notepad++ (probably nothing else that uses the Scintilla editor component either). The documentation should be updated to reflect this.

thanks!
Got a work around in the Notepad++ community: https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/issues/2287
The text rendering needs tweaked but you can do it with a plugin. Keep in mind support for ligatures is not officially supported so you might run into issues.
This is the easiest way I know (without recompiling) to get ligatures to work in Notepad++:
- Install a recent version of Fira Code (use either the normal font or the retina as those are the only ones that seem to work).
- Install LuaScript via the Plugin Manager (you can also use PythonScript if you are more comfortable with it or want to use a 10 ton hammer).
- Select the font via Settings > Style Configurator > Global Styles > Global Override. Select "Fira Code" for the font style and turn on Enable global font
- Edit the LuaScript startup file by doing Plugins > LuaScript > Edit Startup Script and add the following code:
editor1.Technology = SC_TECHNOLOGY_DIRECTWRITE
editor2.Technology = SC_TECHNOLOGY_DIRECTWRITE- Restart and enjoy.
I added instrictions to the Wiki:
https://github.com/tonsky/FiraCode/wiki/Notepad-Plus-Plus-instructions
Most helpful comment
Got a work around in the Notepad++ community: https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/issues/2287