Despite its simplicity, Microsoft’s Notepad text editor has garnered a vast following over the years, largely due to its ubiquitous presence. Today, it takes a leap forward by incorporating a feature deemed indispensable by writers everywhere: spell check. This long-awaited addition is now available in the latest Windows 11 Insider build.
Originally introduced even before the inception of Windows itself, Notepad traces its origins back to the Multi-Tool Notepad program included in the MS-DOS update of 1983. Even then, it served as a faster and more resource-efficient alternative to Microsoft Word, complemented by its inclusion as a free component of the operating system. Since then, it has remained a staple feature in every iteration of Windows.
As outlined on the Windows Insider blog, the spell check feature operates in a familiar manner, flagging typos and misspelled words with a red squiggly line while offering alternative suggestions upon left-clicking or navigating through detected errors with Shift + F10. Additionally, users have the flexibility to enable or disable spell check for various file types.
Although not all users of the latest Windows Insider build (11.2402.18.0) will immediately receive the updated Notepad version due to ongoing A-B testing, it’s reasonable to anticipate that subsequent release versions of the enhanced text editor will eventually make their way to all Windows 11 builds by the year’s end.
