Next autumn WordPad will come to an endor one of the historic software on board Windows, which will be permanently eliminated from the list of Microsoft operating system features and applications. The first sign of the decision appeared already last autumn and was made official in a recent post on an assistance and support site of the US giant. However, it will be possible to continue using it through a small and simple expedient, if you really can do without it.
Microsoft introduced WordPad in 1995as an intermediate solution between the basic NotePad alias Notepad and the more complete Word released ten years earlier, so as to offer users a simple program to use, but with an average level of commands and the possibility of formatting for documents that are not too elaborate. The culmination of WordPad’s journey was reached with the Windows 98 operating system, when it was even made compatible with .doc and .docx files, but after a few versions the option was eliminated. Since that moment, WordPad has remained in a sort of limbo which certainly hasn’t allowed it to gain too much attention from users. It is not surprising that many remember its existence only when it was officially canceled forever. The expiration date of WordPad is set for next autumn, when the Windows 11 update known as 24H2 will be released. Already in the latest preliminary preview builds the software disappeared together with the system files and there are no longer any references in the start menu. Microsoft suggests using Notepad for simple .txt files and Word for more elaborate ones, including the .rft format which was now the most representative for WordPad.
How to continue using WordPad even with Windows 11 24H2
But all is not lost. For those who want to continue using WordPad even with updated Windows 11 just save the two files wordpad.exe and wordpadFilter.dll from the original folder C:Program FilesWindows NTAccessories into a separate folder, so that you can continue to open the program even after they are deleted by the update.
