Can't Find Help in Windows Notepad? Read This

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A guide to fixing Notepad problems and using its features

Co-authored by Megaera Lorenz, PhD Reviewed by Stan Kats

Last Updated: June 12, 2026 Fact Checked

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Getting Help in Notepad

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Troubleshooting Notepad

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Using Notepad’s New Features

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Accessing Old Notepad

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Other Notepad Topics

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Are you having issues with Notepad, or just trying to figure out all the new features? Notepad’s support documentation is limited, so getting help in the app can be a bit tricky. But we’ve explored all the built-in ways to get help, plus put together some basic troubleshooting tips. We’ll also guide you through Notepad’s latest bells and whistles (and teach you to access the classic version if you prefer its simpler interface). If you’re interested in exploring more of Notepad’s basic functionality or learning about cool advanced tricks you can do with it, check out our curated list of other Notepad guides on wikiHow.

How to Get Help with Notepad

Notepad has a few limited built-in help options, including a quick guide to the newest features.
If Notepad isn’t working properly, try some of our troubleshooting tips.
Want help navigating the updated Notepad interface? Jump to Using Notepad’s New Features.
If you don’t like the new Notepad, you can still access the classic version.

Section 1 of 5:

Getting Help in Notepad

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Access the Microsoft Support help page via the Settings menu. To quickly bring up Microsoft Support’s help page for Notepad, click the gear icon at the top right corner of Notepad to open Settings. Then, click Help on the right side of the window. This will open a web browser to the help page.
- Currently, the only topics covered on the Notepad help page are how to open Notepad, how to change the header and footer, and how to create log files.
- You can try searching for additional topics in the “Need more help?” field near the bottom of the page.
You can press Fn + F1 (or just F1, depending on your keyboard and individual settings) to open the Help menu in many Windows apps. In the newest version of Notepad for Windows 11, doing so will open a browser window and perform a Bing search for “get help with Notepad in Windows.”

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Windows 11 has a built-in Get Help app that lets you search for a variety of issues related to Windows software. Click the Search bar at the bottom of the screen or in the Start menu and type get help, then click on the top result. Try searching with keywords related to the topic you need help with (e.g., “use tables in Notepad”).
Unfortunately, Notepad’s built-in help documentation is extremely limited. However, recent versions of the app include a tutorial that will guide you through the latest features and updates. To access this guide, click the megaphone at the top right corner of the app.^{[1]
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Section 2 of 5:

Troubleshooting Common Problems

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Quitting Notepad and opening it back up again will often resolve basic bugs and glitches. If Notepad is totally frozen, you can force-quit it by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager, selecting the Notepad process, and clicking End Task.
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Repair or reset Notepad if it keeps crashing. If something is wrong with the Notepad app itself, you may be able to fix it in Settings. Here’s how to do it:^{[2]
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- Press Windows key + I to open Settings.
- Select Apps > Installed Apps. If you’re using Windows 10, select Apps > Apps & features.
- Select ••• next to Notepad and click Advanced options. In Windows 10, just click Advanced options under Notepad.
- Click Repair. This should fix any issues with the app without deleting any of your data. If repairing the app doesn’t fix the problem, return to this menu and click Reset. This may fix any issues with Notepad, but it will also delete your app data.
If Notepad is not working right, you can try uninstalling it. Then, reinstall it from the Microsoft Store. If Notepad is missing altogether, open the Microsoft Store and download it from there.
Notepad as the default text editor is technically an optional system feature in Windows. If you can’t find it, it might be turned off. For detailed instructions on enabling Notepad and other optional features in Windows 10 or 11, check out our guide.
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Run a system scan to resolve stubborn glitches or crashes. Persistent problems with Notepad could be a sign of corrupt system data. You can run a simple scan to find and repair problem files. Here’s how:^{[3]
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- In the search bar or Start menu, search for command prompt. Right-click Command Prompt and select Run as administrator > Yes.
- Type or paste DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth into the command prompt and press Enter. Wait a few minutes for the process to complete.
- Once you see a message saying that the operation was completed successfully, enter the command sfc /scannow and press Enter.
- Hopefully, this scan will fix any system errors that it finds. If it finds a problem that it’s unable to fix, see if there are any instructions about next steps, or contact Microsoft Support for more help.
Microsoft keeps updating Notepad and adding new features, so updating your system can resolve or prevent bugs and glitches. Try updating to the newest version of Windows and see if that fixes any problems you’re having.
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Change the encoding if your text files are garbled. If you attempt to open a Notepad file and the characters are garbled or replaced with empty boxes, there may be an encoding issue. Try re-saving the file with a different encoding type. The most universally compatible encoding type is UTF-8. To do this:
- Open the garbled file and go to File > Save As.
- Give the file a name ending in “.txt”.
- From the Encoding dropdown, select UTF-8.
- Save the file, close it, and reopen it to see if the issue is resolved. If not, experiment with different encoding types.

Section 3 of 5:

Using Notepad’s New Features

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Markdown Notepad now has several new formatting tools. You can access these using the icons at the top of the window.^{[4]
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- Click the H1 (Headings) icon to open a dropdown of different text styles (e.g., Title, Subtitle, Heading, Subheading, and more).
- Click the Lists icon (which looks like a bulleted list) to create and format different list types, such as bulleted or numbered lists.
- Use the B, I, and S icons to create bold, italicized, or strikethrough text.
- Click the icon that looks like a chainlink to insert active hyperlinks into selected text.
- To remove special formatting from text, select the text and click the icon that looks like Ab with an eraser over it.
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Tables With recent updates, Notepad has added support for simple tables. To create a table, click the icon at the top of the window that looks like a square grid. Drag your cursor over the grid in the pop-up menu to select the number of cells you want in your table, and click the selected cells to insert the table.
- To make changes to the table, select the table, then click the Table icon again. Hover your mouse over Edit table, then select one of the options in the pop-up (Insert, Select, or Delete). Select which part of the table you want to apply your edit to (e.g., a specific row or column, or the entire table).
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AI features You can now use AI to help you compose text in Notepad. To access these features, click the Writing Tools icon in the upper right corner of the window (it looks like a pen with sparkles over it). From there, you can select options like:^{[5]
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- Write: Allows you to generate text based on a prompt.
- Rewrite: Automatically rewrites your entire document, making edits for grammar, syntax, and style. You can use the Length, Tone, and Format dropdowns to refine the rewrite further. If you’re satisfied with the result, click Replace to replace your original text.
- Summarize: Generates a summary of the key points of your text.
- Make shorter and Make longer: Edits the text to make it shorter or longer.
- Change tone: Allows you to change the overall tone of your text based on preset options (such as formal, casual, or humorous).
- Change format: Automatically reformats your text using a variety of presets (e.g., paragraph, list, business, or academic).
The first time you launch the updated Notepad, a window may open with a guide to the latest features and how to use them. If you didn’t have a chance to explore the tutorial in depth the first time, you can always open it again by clicking the megaphone icon at the top right corner of the window.^{[6]
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Section 4 of 5:

Accessing Old Notepad

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If you don’t like the features of the newer Notepad in Windows 11, you can easily regain access to the classic version with a few simple steps. This method doesn’t affect the new Notepad, so you can access either one if you like. To get started, press Windows key + I to open Settings, then select Apps > Advanced app settings.^{[7]
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It’s about halfway down the menu.
You’ll need to scroll down to find it. Toggling this setting off will prevent the new Notepad from opening when you try to launch Notepad from Run.
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Launch Notepad from the Run dialog. Search for run in the taskbar or Start menu search bar, then click Run in the results. Type in notepad.exe and press Enter or click OK. The classic version of Notepad will open.
- You’ll see a message at the top of the window asking if you want to launch the newer version of Notepad. Click the X at the right side of the banner to dismiss it.
- You can make it easier to access classic Notepad by creating a shortcut. Right-click the desktop and select New > Shortcut. Enter C:\Windows\notepad.exe and click Next. Give the shortcut a name (like “Notepad”) and click Finish. Right-click the shortcut and select Show more options > Pin to taskbar.