Is it possible to import VIM syntax highlight into Notepad++?

Vim's syntax highlighting rules are highly Vim-specific for a number of reasons. Some of them are:

  • Vim's syntax highlighting engine relies heavily on Vim's regular expressions, which are similar but not identical to other regular expression engines.
  • Files ending in .vim are Vim scripts, a language that is extremely specific to Vim.
  • The syntax rules include capability for syntax based folding and other things, which you may or may not have in Notepad++ (I have never used it)
  • ...And so on.

My point is that it is very unlikely that you will find a tool that is capable of converting Vim's syntax highlighting rules to something that any other text editor can use. Even if one existed I have no doubt that it would require someone to correct and perfect the new rules file by hand.

Ultimately, it is probably just going to be a painstaking job that you have to do by hand, and in the end it would be simpler to start from scratch for whatever specific languages you want to support with Notepad++.