WordPad

WordPad
Developer(s)Microsoft
Initial releaseAugust 24, 1995; 29 years ago (August 24, 1995)
Stable release
RepositoryWordPad Sample: MFC WordPad Application (early version)
Written inC++
Operating systemWindows 95 and higher
PlatformIA-32, x86-64, and ARM
PredecessorMicrosoft Write
SuccessorMicrosoft Word or Windows Notepad (suggested)
TypeWord processor

WordPad is a word processor included with Windows 95 and later. Similarly to its predecessor Microsoft Write, it is a basic word processor, positioned as more advanced than the Notepad text editor by supporting rich text editing, but with a subset of the functionality of Microsoft Word.

Earlier versions primarily supported a subset of the Rich Text Format (RTF, .rtf) and Microsoft Word 6.0 formats, although current versions are also capable of saving Office Open XML (OOXML, .docx) and OpenDocument Text (.odt) files.

In 2023, Microsoft announced plans to remove WordPad from future versions of Windows. In January 2024, WordPad was no longer auto-installed with the release of Windows 11 Build 26020 and it was announced that it would not be available for reinstallation. Microsoft suggests Word or Notepad as a replacement. There will be no successor.[1] Microsoft removed WordPad in Windows 11 24H2.[2]

  1. ^ mestew (9 February 2024). "Deprecated features in the Windows client - What's new in Windows". learn.microsoft.com. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  2. ^ Blog, Windows Insider; Team, Windows Insider Program (22 May 2024). "Releasing Windows 11, version 24H2 to the Release Preview Channel". Windows Insider Blog. Retrieved 8 September 2024.