Microsoft Enhances Notepad with Text Formatting and Markdown Support in Latest Update

Microsoft Rolls Out Bold New Update for Notepad Tom Warren, a seasoned senior editor and author, has been closely following developments at Microsoft, PC advancements, and broader tech innovations for over two decades. Recently, Microsoft has introduced a significant update for its Windows Notepad app, enhancing its capabilities and user experience. This update, currently available to Canary and Dev Channel testers on Windows 11, adds text formatting features such as bold, italic, and hyperlinks, along with Markdown support. The new Notepad version features a formatting toolbar prominently displayed at the top of the application, complementing the traditional File, Edit, and View options. This toolbar provides quick access to bold, italic, and hyperlinks, as well as support for creating lists and headings. According to Dave Grochocki, principal product manager lead for Microsoft’s Windows inbox apps, "The experience supports Markdown style input and files for users who prefer to work directly with the lightweight markup language. You can switch between formatted Markdown and Markdown syntax views via the View menu or by using the toggle button in the status bar at the bottom of the window." For those accustomed to using Notepad for plain text tasks, clearing all formatting is straightforward through the formatting toolbar or the Edit menu. Moreover, if the new formatting options do not align with your workflow, you can disable them entirely in the app settings. This update arrives just one week after Microsoft began testing an AI-driven feature called Write, which allows users to generate text based on prompts. The Write feature can help users quickly draft content, making Notepad a more versatile tool for everyday writing tasks. With the combination of these formatting options and the Write feature, Notepad now bears a striking resemblance to Microsoft Word, albeit in a much simpler form. As Tom Warren noted in his recent Notepad newsletter, it is remarkable how Microsoft largely neglected Notepad for decades, only to transform it recently into a modern, feature-rich application. This shift in focus coincides with Microsoft's decision to phase out WordPad, which has been part of the Windows operating system for nearly three decades. The overhaul of Notepad reflects Microsoft’s strategic move toward streamlining its suite of built-in applications and providing users with more robust tools within a familiar interface.