Microsoft adds tables support to Windows Notepad • The Register

Microsoft is shoveling yet more features into the venerable Windows Notepad. This time it’s support for tables, with some AI enhancements lathered on top.

Notepad might predate Windows, but Microsoft is still keen to add features to it. After adding support for Markdown in June, replete with simple text formatting options, Microsoft has now added table support.

The new functionality is rolling out to Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev channels, and “you can now easily insert tables in your document to help structure your notes,” according to Microsoft.

We’re not sure who was clamoring for this feature, which, to be frank, would be better suited to a rich text editor. Microsoft already had one of those – WordPad – but removed it from Windows in 2024.

While some might be relieved Microsoft is not stuffing yet more AI into Notepad, it has been tweaking what is already there for some time.

Summarize, Write, and Rewrite were made available to Insiders on Copilot+ PCs without a Microsoft subscription in September. However, users had to wait for the AI tools. The update introduces streaming result responses. “Results will start to appear quicker without the need to wait for the full response, providing a preview sooner that you can interact with,” the company said.

Users will still need a Copilot+ PC or sign in with a Microsoft account.

It’s difficult to understand where Microsoft is going with Notepad. Earlier this year, it revived the DOS-era Edit tool, which seems at odds with Microsoft’s direction. Aggressively lightweight, free of AI fripperies, and laser-focused on being good at one thing – editing text.

Notepad was also a handy text editor, but has strayed from its origins in recent years.

As one user put it: “It’s essentially not notepad anymore.” Arguably, it has not been Notepad for a while.

While formatting – and now tables – adds utility to the tool, Microsoft also risks ladling on unnecessary complexity, pushing users to look elsewhere for their text-editing needs. The timing, coming as the company finds itself under fire for forcing AI onto users who would prefer stability, reliability, and performance, is also unfortunate. ®