WordPad replacement? :: Hardware and Operating Systems

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Out Of Bubblegum Nov 22 @ 7:50pm

WordPad replacement?

I just updated Win11 to the latest 25H something. They removed Wordpad. I have many little notes files in .rtf format. I do not want to install a full office suite on this PC. I do see a way to copy it from a Win11 that was not upgraded.

Maybe a Win10 version would work too?
What are you doing to replace it?

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Originally posted by Bad 💀 Motha:

Why do people ever use those?

Use Notepad++

Also don't forget, any MS Office files saved in their formats you can view/edit using the free tools available to you after logged into Outlook.com

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Bad 💀 Motha Nov 22 @ 7:55pm

Why do people ever use those?

Use Notepad++

Also don't forget, any MS Office files saved in their formats you can view/edit using the free tools available to you after logged into Outlook.com

Last edited by Bad 💀 Motha; Nov 22 @ 7:57pm

Jaunitta 🌸 Nov 22 @ 9:59pm

Apache OpenOffice is the free and open productivity suite from the Apache Software Foundation. Apache OpenOffice features six personal productivity applications: a word processor (and its web-authoring component), spreadsheet, presentation graphics, drawing, equation editor, and database.
https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/xp89j5462cmgjd?hl=en-US&gl=US

Sergalord Nov 23 @ 1:07am

Get the OpenOffice suite. It can open and work with all Microsoft Office documents and all wordpad *.rtf documents. It's 100% completely free. No subscription. No price. Free.

Last edited by Sergalord; Nov 23 @ 1:17am

SlowClick Nov 23 @ 1:42am

Have a look in the Windows APP store - search for RTF and you'll se a good selection of RTF viewers and editors.

Bad 💀 Motha Nov 23 @ 2:36am

Originally posted by SlowClick:
Have a look in the Windows APP store - search for RTF and you'll se a good selection of RTF viewers and editors.

In tbat case just use OpenOffice. It's already very familiar and also open source so should you ever use or switch to Linux you can use it on there as well for all document file types and MS OFFICE dependant file types.

Notepad++ is a good replacement for Notepad, Wordpad and also makes for a good XML editor.

jason Nov 23 @ 4:10am

Wasn't OpenOffice mothballed years ago? Everyone moved to LibreOffice[www.libreoffice.org]

Zef Nov 23 @ 4:30am

Originally posted by Out Of Bubblegum:
I just updated Win11 to the latest 25H something. They removed Wordpad. I have many little notes files in .rtf format. I do not want to install a full office suite on this PC. I do see a way to copy it from a Win11 that was not upgraded.

Maybe a Win10 version would work too?
What are you doing to replace it?

Try WPS or LibreOffice. You can only install the text editor if you don't want the full suite.

Or if you don't need an application you can just use google workspace and use a word like editor in your browser.

These days there are so many alternatives to Office it's unreal.

Last edited by Zef; Nov 23 @ 4:31am

AD Nov 23 @ 4:53am

Originally posted by Out Of Bubblegum:
I just updated Win11 to the latest 25H something. They removed Wordpad. I have many little notes files in .rtf format. I do not want to install a full office suite on this PC. I do see a way to copy it from a Win11 that was not upgraded.

Maybe a Win10 version would work too?
What are you doing to replace it?

I never really used WordPad, I tend to use LibreOffice. It's pretty good. It's free, open source and isn't showing me 3 different ways to use CoPilot, which is a bonus.

Notepad++ is also great.

Originally posted by jason:
Wasn't OpenOffice mothballed years ago? Everyone moved to LibreOffice[www.libreoffice.org]

Did a basic google search and OpenOffice is still alive. Not as used, but still there. I'd say use LibreOffice instead since I think most people went over and it should have more active development because of it (though haven't looked up if that's true or not, it's just that I never hear about OpenOffice anymore).

Last edited by AD; Nov 23 @ 4:58am

Sergalord Nov 23 @ 5:15am

Originally posted by jason:
Wasn't OpenOffice mothballed years ago? Everyone moved to LibreOffice[www.libreoffice.org]

OpenOffice was just recently updated on 10 November 2025. It's still actively being maintained.

Bad 💀 Motha Nov 23 @ 2:37pm

Originally posted by jason:
Wasn't OpenOffice mothballed years ago? Everyone moved to LibreOffice[www.libreoffice.org]

Yes I suppose I always got those two mixed up

#10

DevaVictrix Nov 23 @ 3:16pm

Don't forget onlyoffice...

#11

smallcat Nov 23 @ 3:25pm

For pure gaming purposes this thing is unnecessary . Games Readme files are usually in TXT format , heh heh . As for rtf , as others said free tools a lot

#12

DevaVictrix Nov 23 @ 3:43pm

Originally posted by smallcat:
For pure gaming purposes this thing is unnecessary . Games Readme files are usually in TXT format , heh heh . As for rtf , as others said free tools a lot

Yeah, "I do not want to install a full office suite on this PC"... Notepad++

#13

Bad 💀 Motha Nov 23 @ 4:23pm

Yes Notepad++ is very light weight and you can even use it as a portable app (no install required) useful for your on the go flash drive tech toolbox

It's updated often and works very well for basically a y text file; TXT, BAT, SRT, XML, RTF

I suggest the installer option though so you can more easily designate a file type default in Win10/11 as the installer will ask which file types you wish to make it a default for and it supports a long list of file types.

#14