Microsoft has decided to remove WordPad from its Windows 11, one of the longest-standing and familiar programs of the company’s OS. The recent announcement inevitably stirs up a wave of nostalgia among users who have been familiar with the text editor since the days of Windows 95, useful as an intermediate solution for text processing.
According to information provided by Microsoft, Windows 11 24H2 will no longer include WordPad components, including the wordpad.exe, write.exe, and wordpadfilter.dll binaries. This means that users will no longer have access to the iconic text editor integrated with support for Rich Text Format (RTF): «WordPad will be removed from all editions of Windows starting from Windows 11 version 24H2 and Windows Server 2025,» the company writes on the support site. «As a result, Windows will no longer have a default RTF reader.»
WordPad will disappear from Windows 11 24H2 onwards
Microsoft’s decision to abandon WordPad did not come out of the blue. The company deprecated the app last September, initiating a transition process towards more modern and powerful solutions. Although WordPad is a relatively basic text editor, it could be useful within the OS due to its essential features and simplified interface, as well as being offered for free within the operating system.
For those who frequently work with RTF documents, Microsoft recommends switching to Microsoft Word, its word processing tool (paid). As for normal text files (TXT), the company states that Notepad, the simplest but recently deeply renovated text editor, should suffice for most needs.
Technological innovation often requires sacrifices, and WordPad, born in another era of computing, may no longer meet the needs of modern users. Microsoft is pushing towards more advanced solutions, even if the price to pay will be the absence of a native (and free) solution to view and potentially edit RTF files.
