Microsoft officially leaves WordPad behind, asks users to opt for Word instead

Microsoft’s WordPad has likely not been the text editor of choice for many over the years. While the free, built-in program was a great addition back in 1995, it has not kept up with modern features as Windows versions have evolved over the years.

This is precisely why the axing of one of Windows’ oldest built-in programs did not come as a shocker to many last year. Now, Microsoft has made the move official.

With a new build of Windows 11 Canary (an early-acess version for testers), Microsoft has finally removed the program, which will no longer be a part of fresh Windows 11 installs.

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The company had announced this change months ago, and now it has finally pulled the plug on WordPad.

Microsoft wants you to use Word, Notepad instead

While WordPad wasn’t exactly winning awards for innovation, the program did offer a quick, simple and free solution for those who needed to quickly write an assignment or an essay, complete with all the formatting options we today take for granted.

On lower-end computers, WordPad was also a quicker word processor for many, launching quicker than alternatives like Microsoft Word when writers needed a quick piece.

With WordPad now gone, Microsoft has conveniently pushed users towards Word, its paid alternative which is a part of the larger Microsoft Suite. This, as you probably guessed, may not sit too well with users who don’t want to subscribe to another monthly/yearly service. This may also lead to the rise of free office suite alternatives like LibreOffice.

For now, however, Microsoft has made it clear that Word will be the default tool for .doc and .rtf files, while the more basic text editor Notepad can be used for plain text .txt files.

When will you lose access to WordPad?

Microsoft has removed the program from a test build of Windows 11, also revealing that WordPad will not be a part of clean installs moving forward. The company also added that there will also be no way to install WordPad later on.

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However, the axe will not immediately come for WordPad versions running on hundreds of million computers on Windows 11 (and older versions) right now.

A future, stable version of Windows is set to make WordPad from current Windows 11-running desktops and laptops, but when such an update will be rolled out, remains to be seen.