This post shows students and new users steps to find and use Microsoft Notepad app in Windows 11. Notepad is a generic text editor that one can use to create, open and edit plain-text files. Files that contain special formatting or is not a plaintext can not be read in Notepad.
Notepad offers fewer features than Microsoft WordPad, which is also an editor, but offers more features and works with more document formats then Notepad. You can use WordPad to open and save text files (.txt), rich text files (.rtf), Word documents (.docx), and OpenDocument text files (.odt).
If you need more than a plain-text editor, then you might want to use WordPad, which is also included in Windows 11. An alternative plain-text editor that also provides more features than Notepad is Notepad++.
Below is a post on how to install and make Notepad++ the default text editor in Windows 11.
How to install and make Notepad++ default in Windows 11
Continue below to learn how to find and use Microsoft Notepad on Windows 11 computer.
How to open Notepad on Windows 11
As mentioned above, Microsoft Notepad offers fewer features than WordPad or Notepad++. For basic text editing and nothing fancy, Notepad can be used. If you want something that performs advanced coding or looking for a plain-text editor that has more robust features, then Notepad++ should be considered.
To use the Notepad in Windows 11, click on the Start menu, then search notepad in the search box. Under Best match, select the Notepad app to open.
That will open the Notepad app.
Alternatively, one can also use the Run command box to open Notepad in Windows 11.
Press the Windows key + R on your keyboard, then type notepad and press the ENTER key.
In File Explorer, browse to the path below to find Notepad application (notepad.exe).
C:\Windows\notepad
Again, for basic usage, Notepad might be just enough. However, if you want to create advanced documents with mail merges, spellchecker, styles, tables, headers & footers, columns, margins, and more, Microsoft Word or alternative productivity suite should be considered.
Below is basic table on how to create, open and save files with Notepad.
| Create a new file | Tap or click File, and then tap or click New. |
| Open a file | Tap or click File, and then tap or click Open. |
| Save a file | Tap or click File, and then tap or click Save. |
| Save a file under a different name or format | Tap or click Save as. |
That should do it!
Conclusion:
This post show you how to find and use Notepad in Windows 11. If you find any error above or have something to add, please use the comment form below.
