Windows Notepad is Microsoft’s text editor for Windows, used to open, edit, search, and save text documents. It provides a writing area for notes and other text files, with controls for changing their contents and printing them. The Windows 11 app also brings several documents together in tabs, so each file keeps its own editing space within one window.
Notepad tabs and separate windows
Notepad can keep multiple files open in the same window. Selecting a tab switches to that document without combining its contents with the others. A tab can also be dragged out into a separate window, which allows two documents to remain visible alongside one another.
A setting determines whether newly opened files use another tab or another window.
Editor appearance
Font controls and a dark theme let you adjust the editor’s appearance; the Windows 11 interface follows the system theme by default unless you choose a different setting within Notepad.
Find, replace and undo
Find locates text within the current document, while Replace changes matching text to a replacement you supply. Multi-level undo lets you work back through several changes when an edit needs to be reversed.
Log entries
A text file whose first line contains .LOG has a specific behavior in Notepad: reopening it appends the current date and time at the end of the file. New text can then be added immediately after that timestamp.
The timestamp is inserted when the file opens, so it marks an editing session rather than automatically recording every sentence as it is typed.
Printed headers and footers
Notepad’s Page Setup controls add information above and below printed text. The header and footer fields accept ordinary text together with commands for the document name, page number, current date, or current time. Alignment commands position the following text at the left, center, or right of the page.
Leaving either field empty removes that part from the printed page. Header and footer settings must be entered again for subsequent printing, so a custom printed heading does not become permanent content in the text file.
Markdown
Windows 11 Insider builds include additional editing functions whose availability depends on the preview channel. Markdown controls can apply lightweight formatting, including nested lists and strikethrough, through a toolbar, keyboard shortcuts, or the Markdown syntax itself.
AI writing
The AI writing tools in supported Windows 11 Insider builds operate on text in different ways. Rewrite takes a selection and offers three alternatives, with controls for tone, length, and format. Summarize condenses selected text and lets you choose the summary length or generate another result. Write accepts a prompt at the insertion point and can use selected text as context; the resulting text can be kept, discarded, or refined through another prompt.
These AI functions require Microsoft account sign-in, with AI credits governing access to GPT generation. Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscriptions provide a monthly credit allowance, while Copilot Pro offers a larger usage allowance. The AI features can also be switched off in Notepad’s settings.
