Alexander Lewis
Apr 03, 2024
Microsoft declared its plan to phase out WordPad, the simple word processor that has been a staple of Windows, in September 2023. With this announcement, Microsoft WordPad stopped receiving updates and was later removed from the Windows 11 preview build 26040. Microsoft is now revealing the timeline and process for WordPad’s removal from its suite of integrated software tools.
As per a recent Microsoft article about decommissioning software features, WordPad is set to be discontinued across all supported versions of Windows, beginning with Windows 11 version 24H2 and extending to Windows Server 2025. The forthcoming Windows 11 24H2 update, slated for release in the latter half of 2024, marks the starting point of this phase-out.
IT professionals have been informed by Microsoft that the removal of WordPad will involve deleting three specific binary files: wordpad.exe, wordpadfilter.dll, and write.exe. As a result, developers are advised to avoid creating dependencies on these files and the WordPad brand in their software.
Once WordPad is gone, Windows users will no longer have a default tool for opening rich-text format documents within the operating system. Microsoft recommends users turn to Microsoft Word for more complex word processing needs or Notepad for basic text files (.txt). Unlike the free WordPad, Microsoft Word is a paid application, while Notepad remains a free, integral component of Windows.
WordPad's journey began with Windows 95, offering an advanced alternative to the basic word processor of early Windows versions. Over the years, Microsoft enhanced WordPad, integrating features like Unicode support in Windows XP, DOC file support in Windows Vista, and a Ribbon interface in Windows 7.
The word-processing software market now abounds with alternatives, including online services and open-source offline options like LibreOffice. Alongside WordPad, Microsoft's future updates for Windows 11 (and potentially the next version of Windows) will gradually discontinue other features such as VBScript (to become an optional feature), TLS 1.0 and 1.1 protocols, and the Microsoft Support Diagnostic Tool.
