Microsoft introduces spellcheck and autocorrect to Notepad in Windows 11, but some users express concerns

In a recent update, Microsoft has quietly rolled out spellchecking and autocorrect features to users of Notepad in Windows 11. These features were initially introduced in preview versions of the operating system earlier this year, but it has taken four months for them to be made available to the entire user base, SSP reported.

Notepad, a simple text editor, has always maintained its minimalist design, which is why some users find the addition of spellcheck and autocorrect to be at odds with its purpose. However, it is worth considering that Microsoft recently retired WordPad, a more feature-rich word processor that previously bridged the gap between Word and Notepad. This change may be an effort by Microsoft to enhance Notepad's functionality as a substitute for WordPad in case of need.

Tom's Hardware notes that these new features are enabled by default, meaning that regular Notepad users might not even notice the update until they encounter red underlines highlighting spelling errors. Similar to Microsoft Word, Notepad now offers a menu of options for dealing with misspelled words, allowing users to add specific words to the dictionary for future reference.

While these capabilities are expected to be part of the official release version, it is worth noting that Microsoft has been known to change its plans at times. Nonetheless, the introduction of spellcheck and autocorrect to Notepad aligns with the trend of improving user experience and functionality in Windows 11.

Overall, the addition of spellcheck and autocorrect features may be welcomed by many users who rely on Notepad for simple text editing tasks. However, it remains to be seen how the integration of these features will impact the traditional simplicity of the classic Notepad application.