Windows Notepad facts for kids
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Notepad on Windows 11
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| Original author(s) | Richard Brodie |
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| Developer(s) | Microsoft |
| Initial release | 1983 (as Multi-Tool Notepad) |
| Stable release |
11.2302.16.0 / February 24, 2023
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| Operating system | Microsoft Windows |
| Platform | IA-32, x86-64, and ARM (historically Itanium, DEC Alpha, MIPS, and PowerPC) |
| Predecessor | MS-DOS Editor |
| Type | Text editor |
| License | Freeware |
Windows Notepad is a simple program for writing and editing text on Windows computers. It helps you create and change basic text documents. Notepad was first released in 1983. It was made to help people use the new computer mouse with MS-DOS computers. Since then, Notepad has been a part of every version of Windows.
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How Notepad Started
In May 1983, at a big computer show called COMDEX in Atlanta, Microsoft showed off something new. It was called Multi-Tool Notepad. This program was a simple text editor that worked with a mouse. Richard Brodie created it. It was a simpler version of another program called Multi-Tool Word.
Notepad was made to be very basic. It did not let you make text bold, underlined, or italic. These programs were meant to help sell the new Microsoft Mouse. The mouse cost $195 and often came with Notepad or Word. Many people at the show had never seen a computer mouse before.
The mouse started shipping in July 1983. At first, not many people bought it. This was because the mouse only worked with the programs it came with. These included a tutorial, a drawing app, a music app, and Notepad or Word.
From Multi-Tool to Windows
The "Multi-Tool" name was used for other Microsoft programs too. But Rowland Hanson, who worked at Microsoft, suggested they stop using it. He believed that the company's name, Microsoft, should be the main focus. So, Multi-Tool Notepad became Windows Notepad. Multi-Tool Word became Microsoft Word. Hanson also helped convince Bill Gates to name "Interface Manager" as "Windows."
Since then, Notepad has always been a part of Microsoft Windows.
Notepad Updates and New Features
For a long time, Notepad was updated only when new versions of Windows came out. But in recent years, Microsoft started updating some built-in Windows apps more often. They did this by making them available through the Microsoft Store. This means apps like Notepad can get new features without waiting for a big Windows update.
Notepad first appeared in the Microsoft Store in August 2019. It quickly disappeared but came back in April 2020 with a new look. On February 16, 2022, Microsoft started rolling out a new design for Notepad to all Windows 11 users. This new version added a "Dark Mode" and an improved "Find and Replace" tool.
More recently, on March 21, 2024, Microsoft announced that Notepad for Windows 11 will get spellcheck and autocorrect. These features are first available to people in the Windows Insider program. They will come to all Windows 11 users later.
What Notepad Can Do
Notepad is a text editor. This means it is made for editing plain text. It can open and change text files, which usually end with ".txt". It also works with other simple file types like batch files and log files.
Notepad has only the most basic tools for text. You can find words or replace them with other words. Older versions of Notepad, before Windows ME, had very few keyboard shortcuts. They also did not show you which line you were on.
Starting with Windows 2000, common shortcuts like "New," "Open," and "Save" were added. A status bar also appeared, showing the line number when "word-wrap" was off. Newer versions of Notepad, like Windows 10 version 1809, can understand different ways lines end in text files. This version also added a shortcut to delete the previous word (Ctrl). You can also zoom in and out, and search with Bing.
Notepad is designed to work quickly. It can even open text files that other programs are using.
Fonts and Printing
In older versions like Windows 95, Notepad used a font called Fixedsys. Starting with Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 98, you could choose your own font. However, you cannot change the font for only a part of the text. The default font changed to Lucida Console in Windows 2000 and Consolas in Windows 8.
You can print files from Notepad. You can also change how the top and bottom of the page look before printing. You can add the date or file name to these areas.
Notepad can also take text from the Windows clipboard. When you paste text into Notepad, it removes any special fonts or styles. This can be useful if you want to get rid of formatting from text you copied.
Notepad has a simple logging feature. If you open a file that has ".LOG" on its first line, Notepad will automatically add the current time and date to the end of the file.
How Notepad Understands Text
Notepad supports different ways of encoding characters. This helps it display text correctly from various languages. Some of these include:
- ANSI (which depends on your computer's language settings)
- Unicode, including:
- UCS-2 (from Windows NT 3.5)
- UTF-16 (from Windows 2000)
- UTF-8 (from Windows 2000)
Newer versions of Notepad can also understand different ways lines end in text files. This includes styles used by Unix, Mac OS, and Windows. Notepad also works with languages that read from right-to-left, like Arabic or Hebrew.
What Notepad Can't Do
Notepad has some limits. The size of the file it can open depends on the version of Windows. In very old versions like Windows 3.0, Notepad could not open files larger than 54 KB. For bigger files, Microsoft suggested using other programs.
On Windows XP, Notepad could not open files larger than 32 MB. If a file was too big, it would not open it. On Windows 11, Notepad can open files up to about 1 GB. If a file is larger than that, it will suggest you open it with a different text editor.
How Notepad Detects Unicode
Older versions of Notepad on Windows NT systems (like Windows 2000 and Windows XP) had a small problem. They sometimes thought simple English text was a different type of text called UTF-16 Unicode. For example, if a file had "aaaa aaa aaa aaaaa" written in it, Notepad might show strange Chinese characters instead. This problem was fixed in Windows Vista and newer versions.
Other Text Editors
Notepad is very simple. It does not have many features that other text editors offer. For example, it cannot select blocks of text easily or open many documents in one window.
Many other text editors are available that have more tools. Some popular ones include AkelPad, Metapad, Notepad++, and Notepad2. These programs often have features like:
- Syntax coloring: This helps programmers by coloring different parts of their code.
- Code folding: This lets you hide parts of your code to make it easier to read.
- Macros: These are small programs that can do repeated tasks for you.
- Themes: You can change the look of the editor.
- Line numbering: This shows numbers next to each line of text.
- Automatic indentation: This helps organize your text.
- Search with regular expressions: A powerful way to find text patterns.
- And many other advanced tools for working with text.
See also
In Spanish: Bloc de notas para niños
- MS-DOS Editor, an older text editor
- XML Notepad, a special Notepad for XML files
