Microsoft’s new Notepad app makes its way to Windows 11’s Beta Channel

Starting today, Insiders in the Beta Channel on Windows 11 can begin testing Microsoft’s new Notepad app that was first unveiled last year, featuring a redesigned interface that better aligns it with the rest of Windows 11’s modern design language.

Notepad is a core part of the Windows experience, and has been bundled with every version since Windows 1.0 back in 1985. It’s only seen a handful of facelifts over the years, which is why this new version is such a big deal. It’s the biggest UI update that Notepad has seen in over a decade, and it’s quite good.

It features subtle Mica translucent effects, which allow your desktop wallpaper to slightly blur through the background. It also has modern looking context menus, fluid animations, and the biggest improvement of all, a dark mode!

It also has a redesigned formatting menu, which puts all the text controls in a handy editing bar that’s easier to navigate with a mouse. The version of Notepad rolling out to Insiders is 11.2111.0.0, and is available to both Dev and Beta Channel users. You can grab it now by checking for updates in the Microsoft Store!