News After 41 years Microsoft quietly adds spellchecking and autocorrect to Windows Notepad

[Admin]

Microsoft tested an updated Notepad app with integrated spellchecking back in March this year. Now this enhanced version of the Notepad plain text editor has quietly rolled out to mainstream Windows 11 users.

After 41 years Microsoft quietly adds spellchecking and autocorrect to Windows Notepad : Read more

 

[kjfatl]

How do I turn off spell checking by default? Can I do it based on file type. For example if I open a .vhd file, (VHDL, not Virtual Hard Disk) I don't want it automatically changing variable names.

When reviewing someone else's code on their machine I don't always have my favorite editor installed and configured.

It is most irritating to have the editor automatically change the case of letters at the beginning of each line. Not a problem for VHDL, but nasty with Verilog, C or a document explaining operation of a system using this code.

Spell and grammar check is a good thing to have when it appropriate.

 

[Findecanor]

I believe Windows' Notepad used to be very simple: basically a demo application for the built-in text editor widget.

Is that no longer the case, or has the widget gained all these features?

 

[USAFRet]

How do I turn off spell checking by default? Can I do it based on file type. For example if I open a .vhd file, (VHDL, not Virtual Hard Disk) I don't want it automatically changing variable names.

When reviewing someone else's code on their machine I don't always have my favorite editor installed and configured.

It is most irritating to have the editor automatically change the case of letters at the beginning of each line. Not a problem for VHDL, but nasty with Verilog, C or a document explaining operation of a system using this code.

Spell and grammar check is a good thing to have when it appropriate.

Its either On or Off.

Trivially done in Settings.

And partially by filetype:

 

[danwat1234]

Will the executable run properly on Windows 10?

 

[Alvar "Miles" Udell]

This would have been great in...well I was going to say 1995 but not even then. Notepad's for drafts, quick notes, editing .reg, .cfg, and other such files, files which often contain non-words. Even in the Windows 95 days there was Microsoft Works which was cheap (or even free on OEM systems) and featured spell check and other proper features. In 2024 there's a plethora of free programs which feature spell checking, from web based Word to Google Docs to entire offline office suites like OpenOffice/LibreOffice that are, by today's standards, very light on hardware.

 

[BFG-9000]

Will the executable run properly on Windows 10?

Modern UWP Notepad lists Windows 11 as a system requirement. And it's only been 6 months since all included UWP apps in Windows 10 and 11 were broken by a WindowsUpdate unless you were signed into the app store--including "Modern" photos, calculator, onenote, mail, calendar, people, and DVD player all failed to launch until the March Update Tuesday because the clowns at Microsoft never considered that people might actually login to Windows using a local account.

Or maybe they did consider it and think annoying people into always using an online login is a good idea. It was even more exciting in Windows 11 because File Explorer became a UWP app in 23H2 so they could inject ads into it more easily, and that failed to launch too.

Personally, I prefer an OS to always work even though that's apparently seen as too unfashionably boring nowadays.

 

[USAFRet]

because the clowns at Microsoft never considered that people might actually login to Windows using a local account.

Interestingly, that is what I do with all of my house systems, every day.
Win 10 and 11, Home or Pro.

 

[DookieDraws]

I fill like tihs his is an insalt. I donet ned no dum spill chek. I know how to speel!

 

[flytrap23]

How do I turn off spell checking by default? Can I do it based on file type. For example if I open a .vhd file, (VHDL, not Virtual Hard Disk) I don't want it automatically changing variable names.

When reviewing someone else's code on their machine I don't always have my favorite editor installed and configured.

It is most irritating to have the editor automatically change the case of letters at the beginning of each line. Not a problem for VHDL, but nasty with Verilog, C or a document explaining operation of a system using this code.

Spell and grammar check is a good thing to have when it appropriate.

You can turn off both Spellchecking and Autocorrect in the settings menu. I just did that.

 

[cknobman]

Microsoft slowing ruining another one of its most treasured (very few left) products.

Notepad is my go to specifically because it has zero bs features in it.
There are hundreds of other text editors out there that offer "editing" features, why does Notepad need this crap?

Lightweight, fast, and does not do anything besides let me type in it (and maybe turn on the cursor position and line/column number feature).

 

[35below0]

Microsoft slowing ruining another one of its most treasured (very few left) products.

Notepad is my go to specifically because it has zero bs features in it.
There are hundreds of other text editors out there that offer "editing" features, why does Notepad need this crap?

Lightweight, fast, and does not do anything besides let me type in it (and maybe turn on the cursor position and line/column number feature).

It's trivially easy to turn it off. Notepad is still notepad.

 

[SteveRNG]

Its either On or Off.

Trivially done in Settings.

And partially by filetype:

The real trick for me wasn't turning off spell check (r-click brought up the basic option). The real trick was finding the stand-alone gear icon for settings on the right side of the window when everything else in Notepad has been in a standard menu on the left for 40 years.

 

[Grobe]

I use Notepad3 as my default text editor, and during the installation of Notepad3, it offer to replace the default Notepad on Windows - i.e. when text file being opened from windows explorer, it "redirect" from notepad.exe to Notepad3. I do this whenever possible where I have to use Windows.

 

[JRStern]

From the "who asked for it" department.

OTOH if they want to add the last eight edited filenames list to the open widget, THAT might be welcome.

 

[Grobe]

Recent documents tends to mean "last opened files" - at least that is the behavior I've seen in all software I've used so far having this feature.

 

[RaviBee]

"WordPad has been read its last rights".

Groan. It's a good thing you use spell cheque.