How to Open WordPad in Windows 10 and Windows 11

WordPad is a free and simple word processing application that was introduced in Windows 95 and lasted all the way through Windows 10. If you're using Windows 10, there are many easy ways to open WordPad, including from Windows Search, File Explorer, and the Start menu. If you're using Windows 11, however, opening WordPad is tricky, as it was removed from the operating system. But don't worry–there's a way to get it back! In this article, we'll teach you 7 easy ways to open WordPad in Windows 10, plus how to get WordPad back in Windows 11.

How to Open WordPad in Windows: A Quick Guide

Windows 11 no longer has WordPad. If you want to get Wordpad back in Windows 11, download it from a third party or copy it from a computer that has it.
On Windows 10, search for "WordPad" in the search bar, or find it in the Start menu under All Apps > Windows Accessories > WordPad.
Open a file in WordPad by right-clicking it, selecting Open with, and then choosing WordPad.

Section 1 of 8:

Using Windows 11

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Download WordPad from a third party. Microsoft removed WordPad from Windows 11 in October 2024's 24H2 Update.^{[1]
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Research source} Because of this, you won't find WordPad on your Windows 11 computer. There are two ways to get it back, and the first (the easiest) is to download it from a third-party website like Win7games.com. Here's how:
- Go to the WordPad download page and click the Download WordPad button.
  - We tested the download with VirusTotal and it's safe–here's the report. Even though it's safe, make sure you have antivirus and antimalware protection before downloading files from the internet.
- Open your Downloads folder and unzip the downloaded file.
- Once unzipped, double-click wordpad-2.0.exe and follow the prompts to install it.
- Once installed, you'll find a WordPad icon on your desktop. Double-click it to open WordPad.
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Alternatively, copy WordPad from another computer. If you have access to another Windows 11 or Windows 10 computer, another option is to copy the WordPad files onto a flash drive, then copy them to your computer. Here's how:^{[2]
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- Insert a flash drive into a Windows 10 or Windows 11 computer that has WordPad installed.
- Open File Explorer and copy the following files to the root of your flash drive:
  - 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.mui
- Insert the flash drive into the computer that doesn't have WordPad.
- Open File Explorer and navigate to C:\Program Files\Windows NT\Accessories.
- Copy these 2 files from your flash drive to the Accessories folder:
  - wordpad.exe
  - WordpadFilter.dll
- In the Accessories folder, you should see a sub-folder called "en-US". Copy the following file from your flash drive to the en-US folder:
  - wordpad.exe.mui
- If you get an error, try doing it as an administrator in Command Prompt:
  - Type cmd into the Windows search bar, right-click Command Prompt, and select Run as administrator.
  - Type cd "\Program Files\Windows NT\Accessories" and press Enter.
  - (Replace E: in this command with your flash drive's drive letter) Type robocopy E:\ . "wordpad.exe" "WordpadFilter.dll" and press Enter.
  - (Replace E: in this command with your flash drive's drive letter) Type copy E:\wordpad.exe.mui en-us and press Enter.
- Add WordPad to the Start menu:
  - Back in File Explorer, navigate to C:\Program Files\Windows NT\Accessories.
  - Right-click wordpad.exe and select Pin to Start.
- You can now open WordPad by clicking the WordPad icon in your Start menu.

Section 2 of 8:

Using Windows Search

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If you're using Windows 10, click the magnifying glass icon in the taskbar to open Search. If you don't see it, click the Start menu instead.
Alternatively, you can click WordPad when it appears in the search results. This is the fastest way to open WordPad on Windows 10.

Section 3 of 8:

Using the Start Menu

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WordPad is hidden under the "Windows Accessories" folder of the All Apps list.
If you have Windows set up to show all your apps, you can skip this step.
This opens WordPad.

Section 4 of 8:

Using the Run Dialog

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Pressing Windows key + R at the same time opens the Run dialog window.
Entering any of these will work.
WordPad will open.

Section 5 of 8:

Opening from a File

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You can open files ending with .txt, .rtf, .doc, .docx, or .odt in WordPad.^{[3]
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This opens the selected file in WordPad.

Section 6 of 8:

Using the Command Prompt

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To do so, type cmd into the Windows search bar and click Command Prompt.
Either will work to open WordPad.

Section 7 of 8:

Using Windows PowerShell

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To do so, type powershell into the taskbar search bar, then click Windows PowerShell.
This opens WordPad from PowerShell.

Section 8 of 8:

Searching with File Explorer

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You can do this quickly by clicking the taskbar icon or pressing ⊞ Win+E.
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Type %SystemDrive%/Program Files/Windows NT/Accessories and press ↵ Enter. This takes you to the folder where WordPad is stored.
- You can also manually navigate to the folder, replacing "%SystemDrive%" with your drive letter (usually C:).
This opens WordPad.

Community Q&A

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How do I change the margins in WordPad for Windows 10?

Community Answer

Clicking Page Setup from the File tab will open the Page Setup dialog. In the bottom-right corner of the dialog, you will see the margin settings in millimeters. Simply adjust these values, then click OK.

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When I save something in WordPad on Windows 10, it won't reopen in WordPad?

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After creating your file, take care save your file with .doc so it will open always.

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I recently installed Windows 10 and have had problems ever since with words that have double letters when using either Notepad or Wordpad. Example installed, it will; only puts one "l" in the word.

Sajeel Rajput

Community Answer

It may be a keyboard fault. If so, the best way to resolve this error reinstall Notepad in Windows 10.

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Once WordPad is open, pin it to the taskbar. Right-click the taskbar icon and select Pin to taskbar.

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Pin WordPad to the Start menu as a tile. To do so, search for wordpad in the search bar, right-click WordPad in the search results, and select Pin to Start.

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Jump to letter "W" in the All Apps list quickly by clicking on a letter heading (such as "A") and then clicking "W" from the list of letters.

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