Microsoft adds spell check to NotePad after 40+ years!

Spell check, a function that many users have been requesting for years, is now finally available in Microsoft Notepad, the free and straightforward text editor. Lastly, you'll be able to quickly copy and paste passwords or random URLs into Notepad and get a notice about any spelling mistakes.

The first version of Notepad was released in 1983. It was the company's more straightforward, cost-free, and basic version of Microsoft Word, a more feature-rich word processor that is still widely used in 2024. Although the business has made some small changes to Notepad since its 1980s inception, it has never been a true word processor. That won't be changing anytime soon, but at least you can spellcheck words now if you use Notepad on Windows 11.

Microsoft is updating Notepad for all Windows 11 users starting this week, adding the recognizable red squiggly lines beneath misspelled words in text documents. The user can then choose to repair the misspelling by right-clicking the red line to reveal the word spelled correctly.

In theory, some users have had access to Notepad's new spellcheck tool since March as part of a beta test. However, it appears that the testing is complete, as spell check is now a built-in feature for all users of Windows 11 Notepad version 11.2405.13.0 and higher. I think this is meant to be one more inducement to persuade people to move from Windows 10 to 11. I'm not sure why Microsoft doesn't add this straightforward feature to Notepad on Windows 10. It seems like it could accomplish that.

WordPad, a free word processor situated in between Notepad and Word, is about to expire. Microsoft has announced that WordPad will be removed from Windows 11 in an upcoming release. WordPad's removal is anticipated to occur in September or October of this year. So maybe that's why Notepad is receiving some updates.