WordPad offers more features than Windows Notepad but is less advanced than Microsoft Word. You can use WordPad to open and save text files (.txt), rich text files (.rtf), Word documents (.docx), and OpenDocument text files (.odt). Files in other formats will open as plain text files and might not appear as expected. If you don’t have Microsoft Word installed, you might get by with WordPad in the meantime. Some features—like headers, footers, and annotations—aren’t supported in WordPad. Below are steps one can use to find and use Microsoft WordPad on Windows 11 computer.

How to open WordPad on Windows 11

As mentioned above, Microsoft WordPad offers more features than Windows Notepad but is less advanced than Microsoft Word. If you don’t have Microsoft Word installed, you may get by with WordPad for less advanced users. To use the WordPad in Windows 11, click on the Start menu, then search Wordpad in the search box. Under Best match, select the WordPad app to open. That will open WordPad app. Alternatively, one can also use the Run command box to open WordPad in Windows 11. Press the Windows key + R on your keyboard, then type writes or Wordpad and press the ENTER key. In File Explorer, browse to the path below to find the WordPad application (wordpad.exe). It shortcut is available at the path below: Again, for basic usage, WordPad might be just enough. However, if you want to create advanced documents with mail merges, spellchecker, styles, tables, headers & footers, columns, margins, and more, Microsoft Word or an alternative productivity suite should be considered. Below is a basic table on how to create, open and save files with WordPad. That should do it! Conclusion: This post shows you how to find and use WordPad in Windows 11. If you find any error above or have something to add, please use the comment form below.