Microsoft is adding text formatting to its Notepad app for Windows. The major update to Notepad is available to Canary and Dev Channel testers on Windows 11, and it adds bold and italic styles, as well as hyperlinks and even Markdown support.
The addition of text formatting to Notepad means that a formatting toolbar now appears at the top of the app, alongside the existing File, Edit, and View options. The toolbar includes access to bold, italic, and hyperlink options, as well as support for lists and headings.
“The program supports Markdown-style input and files for users who prefer to work directly with a lightweight markup language,” explains Dave Grochocki, general product manager for Microsoft’s Windows email programs. “You can switch between Markdown formatting and Markdown syntax in the view menu or by using the toggle button in the status bar at the bottom of the window.”
Since Notepad is typically used with plain text, you can also easily clear all formatting from the formatting toolbar or from the edit menu in the program. If you’re not a fan of lightweight formatting options, you can also turn off this new support entirely in Notepad’s settings.
This addition to Notepad’s formatting comes just a week after Microsoft began testing a new feature in the app that can generate text for you using artificial intelligence. The new Write feature in Notepad can be used to “quickly create text based on your prompt,” and with these formatting capabilities, Notepad is starting to look a lot more like Microsoft Word.
