Bring WordPad back from the dead.
WordPad is a powerful little word processing program that’s been part of Windows for decades. Unlike Notepad, which acts only on plain text, WordPad allows you to edit rich text, meaning you can do things like bold, italics, use different fonts, colors, formatting, images, and more.
Microsoft has removed it from Windows 11. While it remains present in existing installations, it’s nowhere to be found on new setups.
I have theories about why Microsoft is removing it, but for now, let’s get that handy lightweight program back, shall we?
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The return of WordPad
Microsoft is removing WordPad from Windows 11, but you can get it back. Copy the WordPad files from another Windows 10 or 11 PC and place them in the same folder on your machine. Avoid risky downloads; stick to safe sources. WordPad remains a fast, simple option for basic documents.
From another installation
Find another Windows 10 or Windows 11 machine that still has WordPad installed. On that machine, copy the contents of the following folder to a USB stick1:
C:\Program Files\Windows NT\Accessories
If you’re curious, that folder appears to contain the following files that relate only to WordPad:
C:\Program Files\Windows NT\Accessories\wordpad.exe
C:\Program Files\Windows NT\Accessories\WordpadFilter.dll
C:\Program Files\Windows NT\Accessories\en-US\wordpad.exe.mui2
Now, go to the machine that doesn’t have WordPad. Locate the “C:\Program Files\Windows NT\Accessories” folder. It may be empty or have only an “en-US” folder.
Copy the WordPad files into this folder in the same layout as you found them on the other computer. You may need to do this in a Windows Command Prompt running “as” administrator.3
You’re not quite done.
Establish shortcuts
Return to Windows File Explorer and view the folder “C:\Program Files\Windows NT\Accessories”.
Double-click on Wordpad (or Wordpad.exe if extensions are shown) to run WordPad.
Right click on the WordPad icon in the taskbar.
You can, if you like, click on Pin to taskbar.
Alternatively, right-click on the Windows Wordpad Application in that menu, and you’ll get an additional menu that allows you to:
- Click on Pin to Start to place a shortcut to WordPad into the Start menu.
- Click on Pin to taskbar to keep the WordPad icon in the taskbar whether it’s running or not.
Finally, if you’re so inclined, you can create a desktop shortcut as well. Right-click anywhere on the empty desktop and click New followed by Shortcut.
Enter the location of the item as “C:\Program Files\Windows NT\Accessories\wordpad.exe”. Click Next and then Finish.
The result will be a shortcut item on your desktop to run WordPad.
Another source: backups
If you’ve been taking regular image backups of a machine on which WordPad once existed but has since disappeared, you can recover it.
Just select an image backup that was taken before WordPad disappeared. Mount it and copy the WordPad files needed from there.
Not another source: downloads
I’ve seen and heard of download sites that claim to let you download WordPad. The catch is in that claim. The download may be WordPad. It may be WordPad plus malware. It may be just malware. We just don’t know.
Given how easy it is to get WordPad from a working Windows 10 or 11 installation, there’s no need to risk it.
Why? My theory
WordPad, which is free, competes with Word, which makes Microsoft money.
I know, it’s a cynical theory, but given how hard Microsoft has been pushing Microsoft/Office/365/CoPilot, it kinda fits. WordPad can view many documents with no need to go online or buy anything. It was probably cutting into Microsoft’s marketing efforts for OneDrive and Microsoft 365 CoPilot.
But it’s just a theory.
Do this
WordPad is a nice lightweight word processing application. It typically loads much more quickly than most of the suggested alternatives. If it’s all you need, it’s easy to get back and continue to use.
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Footnotes & References
1: Or any other way of copying files from one computer to another.
2: My assumption is that all references to “en-US” will be replaced by the appropriate language/locale for your installation.
3: Technically, any approach that will allow you to perform the copy “as administrator” will work. Command Prompt is easiest, in my opinion.
As usual, this article sent me down the rabbit hole. WordPad must really be popular. An internet search shows many ways to get it back, even on the Microsoft Community site.
I’ve got 5 computers laying around and not one of them still had WordPad. I did find a website where one could download it and did so. After scanning the download with Windows Security, I installed it and WordPad ran with no issues.
Not satisfied with that solution, I started looking around to see if I had any backup images that might still have WordPad. I finally found one and followed the steps in the article to install WordPad. (I uninstalled the downloaded one to keep the file names consistent, as there were some extra characters in the file names.)
For the truly adventurous, I found instructions for how to extract the files needed from an ISO image using DISM or 7-Zip. I’m playing around with virtual machines and have downloaded a Windows 10 ISO image for that. Now I intend to keep it in case Microsoft decides to change something else. At least until Windows 11 evolves further from Windows 10.
Thank you Mark , it would have been even nicer if you had mentioned the safe download site you used. I too find I have no backup with it and it is not in my Win11.
This item sparked my interest in Microsoft Word-pad again. I searched my computers, and online to no avail, so I went to the OlderGeeks website (https://www.oldergeeks.com/) to see if they have it. They do not, but the first-listed alternative is Jarte, a Word processor that uses the stable Word-pad engine, so I decided to download it to try it out. Following the download, I discovered that the download from OlderGeeks is a portable version, not what I currently want, so I went to the author’s website (https://www.jarte.com/) and downloaded their Windows installer.
My first impressions following installation are that Jarte is very fast loading, and it looks a lot like Word Pad. I’ll experiment with it for a while, and if it gives me all I need in a word processor, I may end up using it for day-to-day word processing, replacing LibreOffice Writer. Writer loads very slowly on my primary laptop PC, and while it’s the only component of LibreOffice I use regularly, having the suite available is handy, so even if I switch to Jarte for day-to-day word processing, I’ll probably keep the full suite installed in the event I need one of the other apps it includes at some point.
Ernie
Have used Jarte for years in addition to Wordpad. Has many features Wordpad doesn’t including opening multiple documents at once–so you can create a notebook divided into subjects. Like Wordpad, by default, Jarte stores its files as .rtf, so they’re interchangeable.
Write got too good. It even opens .docx files. I use it extensively. Someday, you might need a feature of Writer or even Calc. I use MS Office but it’s the same idea. Two features I usd to use a lot were “Track changes” when I proofread students’ works and “Mail merge” to send personalized form letters, although I used the Mail Merge plug-in for Thunderbird to send emails to the class. YXou, of course, migh find different features you can use.
Addendum:
I had an occasion to go to my older Windows 10 laptop PC, and while on it, I decided to see if Wordpad’s installed, it is, so I copied the Accessories folder to my Ventoy USB stick and completed the steps above. Initially, Wordpad wouldn’t start, reporting an error. I checked the en-US folder, and it was empty, so I removed it and copied the one on my Ventoy disk to C:\Program Files\Windows NT\Accessories. Now Wordpad works as expected.
I wanted Wordpad in my list of programs, so I ALT+Clicked wordpad.exe, selected ‘Show more options’ in the context menu that popped-up, then clicked the ‘Send to…’ item, and chose ‘Desktop (create shortcut)’ to put a Wordpad shortcut on my desktop. Next, I entered ‘shell:Programs’ in File explorer’s Titlebar (I have ‘Display full path in Titlebar’ enabled in the ‘View’ tab of File Explorer’s Options dialog), which takes me to ‘C:\Users\$USER\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs’ folder and I dropped the Wordpad shortcut to that folder (removing it from my desktop). With that done, I was able to see Wordpad in my All programs list, and could pin it to Start for easy access.
My reasoning for doing all this:
I keep shortcuts to Internet websites of interest to me on my Desktop.
I pin apps I use frequently on my Taskbar.
I pin apps I use occasionally to Start
This structure keeps my desktop uncluttered, my frequently used apps within easy access, and occasionally used apps where I can easily get to them when I need to.
Ernie
This is what I find. What do you think?
https://www.onlinewordpad.com/
That is not wordpad. That’s just a website that emulates a lite word processor and calls itself Wordpad. I find it kind of missleading.
Hello all,
I downloaded Wordpad for my Windows 11 from here:
https://win7games.com/#wordpad
Good luck.
I do not know if Leo will allow me to post this download URL, he may take this down.
Thanks, Leo – great tip.
I’ve really missed WordPad (for exactly the reasons that you outlined). It’s a ‘grown-up’ Notepad.
Going to give it a go.
I followed these instructions to the letter but the application fails with the error message “The procedure entry point GetTempPath2W could not be located in the DynamicLinkLibrary”
Sadly, I don’t have a way of copying to put Word Pad on my Windows 11. I have to go to the Microsoft 365 website to use the free version . When I first discovered it was missing from my machine upon getting my current PC, I called Dell up about it. I almost had an argument with the tech guy due to his lack of knowledge on previous versions of Windows, which had Word pad pre installed. I should know, since I’ve owned Dell computers for a number of years!
RE: copying the files from OneDrive…
Leo says: “You may need to do this in a Windows Command Prompt running “as” administrator.”
I am confused as to why one needs to “copy as administrator” to place these files into the Win11 “WindowsNT” folder.
I was able to upload the files to OneDrive from my older laptop running Win10 (its not Win11 compatible). I then opened my OneDrive folder on my Win11 pc. I then simply did a Copy – Paste of those files into the WindowsNT\Accessories\ folder with no issue.
I then ran WordPad from that folder and it loaded just fine. I have now added this to my Start menu.
I did not encounter any warnings requiring special Administrator credentials to do these steps. I suggest you try to do a simply copy/paste before going through all of the steps to do this in a Command Prompt window.
I copied the files into OneDrive so I could install it on my Win 11 computers. I double-clicked on WordPad.exe and it ran. It also works as a portable program if you want to run it from a thumb drive without having to copy anything.