Microsoft releases a bold new update for Notepad

Microsoft is adding substance formatting to its Windows Notepad app. The important Notepad update is available for Canary and Dev Channel testers connected Windows 11, and introduces bold and italic styling, alongside hyperlinks and adjacent Markdown support.

The summation of substance formatting successful Notepad means there’s present a formatting toolbar astatine the apical of the app, alongside the existing File, Edit, and View options. The toolbar includes entree to bold, italic, and hyperlink options, but it besides includes enactment for lists and headings.

“The acquisition supports Markdown benignant input and files for users who similar to enactment straight with the lightweight markup language,” explains Dave Grochocki, main merchandise manager pb for Microsoft’s Windows inbox apps. “You tin power betwixt formatted Markdown and Markdown syntax views successful the presumption paper oregon by selecting the toggle fastener successful the presumption barroom astatine the bottommost of the window.”

Since Notepad is usually utilized with plain text, you tin besides easy wide each formatting from the formatting toolbar oregon from the edit paper successful the app. If you’re not a instrumentality of the lightweight formatting options, you tin besides afloat disable this caller enactment successful the Notepad app settings.

This formatting summation to Notepad comes conscionable a week aft Microsoft started investigating a caller diagnostic successful the app that can make substance for you utilizing AI. The caller Write diagnostic successful Notepad tin beryllium utilized to “quickly draught substance based connected your prompt,” and alongside these formatting options Notepad is starting to look a batch much similar Microsoft Word.

Like I wrote successful my Notepad newsletter earlier this week, it’s astonishing that Microsoft hardly touched Notepad for decades, and present it’s gone from basal log record scholar to penning messages itself. A batch of Notepad’s caller features person arrived since Microsoft decided to remove WordPad from Windows, aft astir 30 years.