Microsoft Notepad Finally Gets Spell-Check

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Microsoft Notepad Finally Gets Spell-Check

 

Over 40 years later, the latest version of Notepad sent out to Windows 11 users includes spell check and auto-correct options.

The feature, live in at least version 11.2405.13.0 or later, appears to be rolling out to Windows 11 users now, after some testing in March, and works exactly how you'd imagine. 

Misspelled words are either corrected automatically or underlined with a squiggly red line. Right clicking on the highlighted misspelled word, and selecting "Spelling" from the context menu will offer a number of potential spellings as well as the option to ignore it or add it to your dictionary.

Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be a global spell check dialogue to check the entire document, so you'll still have to click through to each instance of misspelling to correct it.

Introduced in early 1983 as multi-Tool Notepad, the mouse-based text editor kept it simple rather than attempt to be a word processor. It's been an integral part of Windows ever since.

Spell check and auto-correct aren't the only new features to grace Notepad lately. In 2021, the app added support for dark mode and last year, tabs were added to make juggling multiple files easier.

For purists who'd prefer that Notepad didn't flag misspellings or auto-correct your keystrokes, the features can be tweaked in settings or limited to specific file types such as markdown or .txt docs.

In any case, the update couldn't come at a better time now that it’s more feature-rich sibling WordPad is officially on its way out.