WordPad app has been deprecated in Windows 10 and Windows 11

Edwin said:

I don't think I've ever actually used WordPad, I just looked at it from time to time!

Click to expand...

Its main usefulness was it would open linux text files properly.

Notepad would join all lines up as linux text files do no have carriage returns.

However notepad now handles Linux text format so not used wordpad for ages.

Bree said:

If you wish to retain a working copy of Wordpad after it is removed then you need to copy all the contents of C:\Program Files\Windows NT\Accessories to another folder elsewhere. There's also a 32-bit version in C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows NT\Accessories

Click to expand...

The good news is that if you have a Google Drive account, you can back up both Win 10 Pro folders (I'm going to try with my Win 11 Pro laptop in a few minutes and post the results) onto your Google Drive account. I noted that all files including WordpadFilter.dll and wordpad.exe.mui
is uploaded with both versions of Wordpad.

Managed to back up the Windows 11 Pro settings onto my Google Drive account.

Longtime Microsoft Office user and now Microsoft 365 user here.
I love Microsoft Word and for quick text files I use Notepad .
I've never had a use for Wordpad.
I won't miss it.

I have over 10 installs of Windows & when I install another 1 I usually don't install MS Word if a minor OS install & want to transfer info, links, etc. to the new OS I use WordPad to open documents saved in .rtf format.

While we're on the subject of the soon-to-be late WordPad app:

JIC it turns out to be useful for me (in some future era, in a galaxy far, far away), I took Bree's suggestion and copied the working files to a folder on my Programs drive. Then I ran it, just to make sure it worked, and then I reset my app defaults so that if I open an .rtf, the Programs-drive copy of WordPad is called, not the C:\Program Files one (which will, if the rumors are true, soon be gone).

And this all raised a question: How do you set a different default font in WordPad? The standard default is a tiny, tiny Calibri. Yuck! I did a search and found a couple of suggestions, but neither of them is viable in the current version of WordPad -- they were originally posted for WordPad in Windows 7.

Anybody know how to fiddle WordPad so that it opens in, say, Verdana 12?

P.S., I think it always opens in the font of the document, when you double-click on an .rtf. I don't want to change that, just the default font that loads when WordPad is opened from its own shortcut.

Wisewiz said:

Anybody know how to fiddle WordPad so that it opens in, say, Verdana 12?

Click to expand...

The best suggestion I have seen was that by Kevin Anderson in
Want to change WordPad defaults for font, type size, and line spacing - MSAForum
Underneath that is an idea by Ronnie Vernon.

But the Template.rtf does not have to be in System32, it can be anywhere.
In my tests, just for example, my call to my rescued WordPad ended up being
"F:\RescuedComponents\WordPad\WordPad Win10 22H2 x64\wordpad.exe" "F:\RescuedComponents\WordPad\WordPad Win10 22H2 x64\Template.rtf"
or
"F:\RescuedComponents\WordPad\WordPad Win10 22H2 x64\wordpad.exe" "H:\Fred\Template.rtf"
and the default SaveAs location becomes the path that the Template is in [because you are not creating a new file, you are editing an existing file].
I made my Template.rtf read-only [as I do with all my templates] to force a SaveAs dialog rather than accidentally overwriting the Template file.

Denis

@Try3

Thanks for that, but I found the same thing yesterday and tried it, and it didn't work.

Gonna try it again today. I'll report.

I had just done it when I wrote my last post and I had no problems.

Denis

Worked, thanks to your detailed report. I'm not sure what I missed in yesterday's attempt, but now I have it. Thanks again.

Dan

Dan,

And now we have it working, the big question is, "What are we going to use it for?".


Denis

Ah, yes. I was wondering that myself. On reflection, I find I haven't used it even once in the last versions of Windows (7, 10, and 11). OTOH, who knows, ... maybe in another galaxy, far, far away ...

@Try3

I used Everything to find the .rtfs on this machine, and there are a bunch of them, mostly EULAs. I think I'm with the majority here when I say that I never bother to read those. But, who knows ... ??

Bacup first , before you will regret things...................

johnlgalt said:

The (middlin') king is dead. Long Live the (middlin') king!

Click to expand...

Hale!!!!!!!!!!

mecanicogolf said:

Hale!!!!!!!!!!

Click to expand...

And hearty!!!

Or, Hail!!! (and snow, perhaps?)

Sorry, couldn't resist.

WordPad was handy for those consumers and office workers who had WordPerfect but occasionally would receive a Word .doc document they needed to open but didn't have Word installed. My first computer [in '92] came with WordPerfect for Windows 5.1 installed.

Berton said:

WordPad was handy for those consumers and office workers who had WordPerfect but occasionally would receive a Word .doc document they needed to open but didn't have Word installed. My first computer [in '92] came with WordPerfect for Windows 5.1 installed.

Click to expand...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that you can install Microsoft Office (Microsoft 365) without licensing it and it will operate in read only mode.

Just use the free online cutdown version of word - probably about as close to Wordpad as you can get.