In this post, we see:
Here, I’m using Windows 10. Let’s start.
What is Notepad
Notepad is a text editor program. It is basic, and it lacks what many other text editor programs have. For instance, you can’t make a selective text bold in Notepad.
But it is a popular text editor, and it is easy to use.
How to Reinstall Notepad in Windows 10
Right-click on the Start button. Hit the “Apps and Features” option. Click on the “Optional features” link, which you can find in the “Apps & features” section.
Hit “Add a feature” at the top. Select “Notepad” and then hit the “Install” button.
How to Open Notepad in Windows 10
You can launch Notepad in diverse ways. Let us see what they are.
Method #1
Use notepad command in any of the following programs to start Notepad.
- Command Prompt (cmd)
- Task Manager (in it, click File > Run new task to use the command)
- File Explorer address bar
Method #2
Click on the Start button. Click the Windows Accessories folder. Hit on “Notepad,” which you can find above “Paint.”
Method #3
Open Start menu. Type notepad and then hit the Notepad app in the search results.
Method #4
Go to C: > Windows > System32 folder. This is where the Notepad executable file exists. Double-click the “notepad” file.
Note: you can also find the Notepad executable file in C: > Windows.
Read: Where is WordPad in Windows 10
How to Open Notepad in Windows 10 as Administrator
If you save a system file with Notepad, you encounter an error. And the reason for the error is that you did not open Notepad as administrator.
Here, we will see the unique methods to launch Notepad as an administrator in Windows 10.
Method #1
Open Run. Type notepad and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter keys together.
Hit the “Yes” button on the UAC pop-up.
Method #2
Click on the Start button. Type notepad. Right-click on the Notepad app in the search results.
Hit “Run as administrator” option. In the UAC pop-up, hit “Yes.”
Method #3
Click on the Start button. Hit Windows Accessories folder. Right-click on the “Notepad.”
Now hover your mouse over “More.” Hit “Run as administrator” option. In the UAC pop-up, hit “Yes.”
Method #4
Go to C: > Windows. Find the notepad file.
Right-click on it and then hit the “Run as administrator” option in the context menu. Hit the “Yes” button on the UAC pop-up.
How to Put Notepad on Desktop in Windows 10
Here, we’ll see the steps to create a Notepad shortcut in the Windows 10 desktop. But remember that the steps are the same for creating a shortcut on File Explorer.
Right-click on your desktop’s blank area. Hover your mouse over “New.”
Hit “Shortcut,” which you can find under “Folder.” In the “Create Shortcut” pop-up, type notepad. Hit the “Next” button.
Now, provide the name for the shortcut as per your liking if you don’t like the suggested name. Click on the “Finish” button.
That’s it. Now you can see the shortcut on the desktop.
To create a shortcut that launches Notepad as an administrator:
Create a shortcut of Notepad using the above steps. Right-click on it. Hit “Properties.” Click the “Advanced” button.
In the pop-up, select the “Run as administrator” option. Hit the Ok button. Hit the Ok button.
That is it. From now on, when you open the shortcut, it will show you UAC pop-up. Hit Yes in that and you can see the Notepad opened as administrator.
How to Assign a Shortcut Key for Notepad Shortcut in Windows 10
Right-click on the Notepad shortcut. Hit “Properties.” In the “Shortcut” tab, you can see the “Shortcut key” field.
In that field, provide the key which you want to use to launch Notepad. In this instance, I’m providing ,.
Hit the Ok button.
That’s all. From now on, whenever I press Ctrl + Alt + , keys, Notepad will be launched.
Note: you can apply the above steps to the shortcut which opens Notepad as administrator.
Notepad Shortcut Keys
Keys and Its Actions
- Ctrl + A – select everything in the document.
- Ctrl + N – create a new document in the same Notepad window.
- F10 or left Alt – displays or hides KeyTips.
- Ctrl + O – to open a document.
- Ctrl + S – to save a document.
- Shift + Ctrl + S – to save the document as a new document.
- Ctrl + P – to print.
- Shift + Ctrl + N – create a new document in a new Notepad window.
- + + Ctrl – zoom in.
- – + Ctrl – zoom out.
- Delete – to delete a letter on the right side of the cursor.
- 0 + Ctrl – restore default zoom.
- Ctrl + X – cut the selected text.
- Ctrl + C – to copy the selected text.
- V + Ctrl – to paste.
- F5 – include the current date and time into the document.
- Ctrl + Z – undo.
- Ctrl + E – open “Bing” if the cursor has no words on the left side of it. If there’s a word on the left side of the cursor, then you can see the search results in Bing for that word.
- Ctrl + F – opens “Find” pop-up.
- Ctrl + H – opens “Replace” pop-up.
- F3 – to find next.
- Ctrl + G – open “Go To Line” pop-up.
- Ctrl + Delete – deletes a word on the right side of the cursor.
- Shift + F3 – to find previous.
- Ctrl + Home – brings the cursor to the top of the document.
- Ctrl + End – bring the cursor to the end of the document.
How to Add Notepad to Taskbar or Start Menu in Windows 10
Open Start menu. Type notepad. In the search results, you can see the Notepad app.
Right-click on it and you can see four options:
- Run as administrator
- Open file location (opens the Windows Accessories folder which contains the Notepad shortcut)
- Pin to Start
- Pin to taskbar
Hit “Pin to Start” if you want to pin Notepad as a tile in the Start menu. Hit “Pin to taskbar” if you want to add Notepad to the taskbar.
How to Add Notepad to Send To Menu in Windows 10
Copy the shortcut of Notepad. Launch Run. In it, type shell:sendto and then hit “Enter” key. Now, paste the Notepad shortcut into the “SendTo” folder.
How to Add Notepad in Right-click Menu
Here, we’ll see how to add Notepad (or Notepad as administrator) in the right-click menu.
Add Notepad in Right-click Menu
Open Registry Editor. Take a backup of the Registry before proceeding.
In the left pane, expand Hkey_Classes_Root > *. Right-click on the “shell” key and then select New > Key.
Provide the key name as you prefer (here, I’m giving it as Notepad) and then hit the “Enter” key.
Right-click on the key you’ve created and then select New > Key. Provide the name of the key as command and then hit the “Enter” button.
Now, in the right pane, double-click the “Default.” In the “Value data” field, provide Notepad %1 and then hit the Ok button.
That’s it. From now on, right-click on the file you want to open in Notepad and then hit the Notepad option in the context menu. The file will get opened in Notepad.
Note: Do you want to remove Notepad from the context menu? Delete the first key you’ve created (in my case, it is Notepad).
Add Notepad as Administrator in Right-click Menu
Open Registry Editor. Take a backup of the Registry before proceeding.
Expand Hkey_Classes_Root > *. Right-click on the “shell.” Select New > Key. Provide the key name as runas.
Double-click the “Default” in the right pane. Provide the name (in our instance: Notepad Admin) in the “Value data” field as per your liking. Remember that this is the one you see in the context menu. Hit the Ok button.
Now, right-click on the runas and then select New > Key. Provide the key name as command. Double-click the “Default” in the right pane. Provide notepad %1 in the “Value data” field. Hit the Ok button.
That’s all. From now on, right-click on the file you wish to open. You can see the option (in our instance: Notepad Admin) in the context menu. If you hit that option, you can see a UAC pop-up. Hit “Yes” button and then the file will be opened in the Notepad which got launched as administrator.
Note: Do you want to remove the option you’ve added from the context menu? Delete the runas key.
How to Change Notepad Default Font, Size, Style, and Script
Note: The default Notepad font is “Consolas.” The default style is “Regular.” The Default font size is “11.” The default script is “Western.”
Start Notepad. Click Format > Font. In the pop-up, you can see the list of fonts under “Font.” Choose the one you prefer.
You can also change the default font size, script, and style from here. Hit the “Ok” button.
Note: Remember that you can’t change the font for selective text in the Notepad.
How to Enable Status Bar and Word Wrap
Status Bar is by default enabled on Notepad and Word Wrap isn’t.
Remember that the latter is enabled for showing the file contents within the size of the window. In other words, when the feature is enabled, you need not scroll horizontally to view the contents of the file.
Not only that, but it’ll also bring the cursor to the new line as you reach the end of the current line while typing. With that said, let’s see the steps to enable them.
Launch Notepad. Hit the “View” at the top. Now, you can see the “Status Bar” option. Hit it to enable or disable the Status Bar.
Hit the “Format” at the top. Now, you can see the “Word Wrap” option. Click on it to enable or disable Word Wrap.
How to Reset Notepad in Windows 10
Open Registry Editor. Take a backup of the Registry before proceeding. Expand Hkey_Current_User > Software > Microsoft. Find the “Notepad” key.
Right-click on it and then hit the “Delete” option. Tap “Yes” in the confirmation pop-up. That’s it. Open Notepad now, and you can see the change.
How to Uninstall Notepad in Windows 10
Right-click on the Start button. Hit the “Apps and Features” option. Click on the “Optional features” link, which you can find in the “Apps & features” section.
Click on “Notepad.” Now, you can see the “Uninstall” button. Hit it.
Written by Thirumal raj. Check out more posts here: Windows 10.
