WordPad Removed from Windows 11
The following article will help you to install WordPad in Windows 11. During one of its official release updates, Microsoft deleted the WordPad application. It’s unknown why this removal was made.
In September 2023, Microsoft declared that WordPad would be discontinued. With the introduction of the Windows 11 24H2 update, WordPad was formally taken out of all versions of Windows 11 along with Windows Server 2025.
Microsoft advises creating rich text documents with Microsoft Word and plain text documents with Notepad.
What is WordPad?
For many years, WordPad was a standard word processing program that came with Windows and provided a straightforward method for creating and editing text documents.
WordPad allows you to write documents with basic formatting, save them in popular formats like Word Document (.docx) and Rich Text Format (.rtf), and even view Word documents.
For short notes or documents that do not need the advanced functionality of a full word processor, its simplicity made it perfect.
Unlike Notepad, it lets users format text with different fonts, colors, and styles, add photos, and change the alignment of paragraphs, etc.
[Read: Enable Notepad Dark Mode in Windows]
Nevertheless, it is missing several advanced features that are available in Microsoft Word, such as complex formatting options, templates, and a wide range of editing tools and many more.
Get WordPad back in Windows 11
Although WordPad is currently not available by default in Windows 11, there are still a few methods of getting it in Windows 11 as described below:
- WordPad copying from a previous Windows version
- Download and install WordPad using the setup wizard
Copying WordPad from a previous Windows version
If an earlier version of Windows, which is available to you (like WordPad in Windows 11 and Windows 10), you could transfer the WordPad.exe application files from the previous system onto the newly updated Windows 11.
Here is how you can do this:
- Navigate to the following path: C:\Program Files\Windows NT\Accessories, in a Windows 11 version 23H2 or older version of a Windows machine
- You will see three items in it: WordPadFilter.dll, wordpad.exe, and the localization folder en-US
- Copy all three items onto a USB or external drive
- Plug a USB or external drive into a Windows 11 computer that doesn’t have WordPad and copy all three items
- Navigate to a similar path with location C:\Program Files\Windows NT\Accessories and paste and paste all three items in Accessories folder
- Lastly, double click on wordpad.exe to open the notepad
Note: This above approach may not be officially supported and may lead to WordPad incompatibilities issues.
How to Download WordPad in Windows 11?
To download the WordPad package without any tampering, click on the download button below:
This given WordPad application is compatible with 64-bit and 32-bit computers. At any point if you feel that the app is not working as expected and you don’t want to keep it, you can easily uninstall it from your Windows system.
However, we have installed, tried and tested it on our Windows 11 and it works without any issues like running other Windows built-apps.
How to Install WordPad in Windows 11?
Once you download the WordPad installer from the above step, it’s now time to install. Follow the quick step guide below:
- The downloaded file is a zip file named “WordPad Installer.zip”, you need to extract it
- Once you extract it, you will find “wordpad-1.0-setup.exe” file
- Double click on the setup file to run the WordPad installer
- It may ask for your permission to run (need to allow UAC prompt)
- Follow the on-screen steps. It will be a quick installation and will not take more than a few seconds
Summary: WordPad is an everyday Windows word processor. Though it lacked advanced functionality, but allowed basic text formatting and picture insertion.
In Windows 11 (24H2), Microsoft eliminated it, recommending Notepad for basic text and Microsoft Word for more complex requirements.
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