Microsoft is enhancing its Windows Notepad application by introducing text formatting features. This notable update is now accessible to Canary and Dev Channel testers on Windows 11, bringing options for bold and italic text, hyperlinks, and even Markdown support.
With the new text formatting capabilities, users will find a formatting toolbar at the top of the Notepad app, alongside the traditional File, Edit, and View menus. This toolbar provides quick access to bold, italic, hyperlink tools, as well as features for lists and headings.
According to Dave Grochocki, principal product manager lead for Microsoft’s Windows inbox applications, “This feature allows for Markdown-style input and files for those who prefer working with the lightweight markup language. Users can toggle between formatted Markdown and Markdown syntax in the view menu or with a button in the status bar at the bottom of the window.”
Notepad, traditionally known for plain text editing, also allows users to easily remove all formatting using the formatting toolbar or through the edit menu. If the new formatting options aren’t appealing, users have the ability to completely disable the feature in the Notepad settings.
This new formatting feature is introduced shortly after Microsoft began testing an AI-driven capability in Notepad. The new Write feature can assist users by quickly generating text based on prompts, making Notepad resemble Microsoft Word more than ever before.
