You can now format text in Windows 11's Notepad

Windows 11 used to have two stock text editors: Notepad for the most basic text edits and WordPad, a more feature-rich text editor with extra capabilities like RTF support, text formatting, and more. Now, with WordPad being six feet under, Microsoft is bringing parts of WordPad to Notepad, making the stock text editor in Windows 11 more versatile and capable.

Today, Microsoft released a new update for Notepad for Windows Insiders in the Dev and Canary Channels (no new preview builds this week, sadly). Version 11.2504.50.0 introduces basic text formatting tools, allowing you to insert headers, bullet lists, links, and format text with bold or italics. Also, Notepad now supports Markdown for those who prefer a markup language in their text documents. You can switch between formatted Markdown and Markdown syntax on the View tab or by clicking the button on the status bar at the bottom of the window.

Here is what Notepad with text formatting and the new toolbar looks like in version 11.2504.50.0:

Microsoft knows that not all users want text formatting in Notepad (many wish for a simple, bullet-proof Notepad like the one from the Windows 7 era), so it also introduced a clear formatting button on the toolbar. Press Ctrl + A to select everything and click the corresponding button to clear text from any formatting. If that is not enough, go to the Settings section and turn off text formatting completely.

As usual, Microsoft urges users to share their thoughts and ideas about new features in the Feedback Hub. You can send your feedback about Notepad by pressing Win + F and heading to Apps > Notepad.

Microsoft has been quite busy adding new features to Notepad, an app that used to be a bare-bones text editor. The company is currently testing AI-powered capabilities like text summarization and text generation. You can learn more about those features in our dedicated article.

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