WordPad is an application that comes installed with the Windows operating system and is a very simplified version of the Microsoft Word program that you can buy and install on your PC. You can use WordPad to create basic documents with basic formatting option and it’s a step above using the Notepad app.
Starting with version 24H2, Microsoft decided to remove WordPad from Windows 11 altogether. We are not sure why Microsoft would decide to do this unless they are just pushing for more people to buy a Microsoft Office 365 subscription. And if you don’t know, you can use the Microsoft Office online apps for free without a subscription. If you still want to use WordPad with Windows 11, you are in luck and in this article, we will be showing you 2 methods you can use to add WordPad back to Windows 11
Method 1 – Add WordPad Back Using Files from an Older Computer
The first method we will be discussing to add WordPad back to Windows 11 involves copying some files from a computer running an older version of Windows 11 or even Windows 10.
From this computer running an older version of Windows, navigate to the following directory in File Explorer.
C:\Program Files\Windows NT\Accessories
Within the Accessories folder, you should see two files named wordpad.exe and WordpadFilter.dll.
You may not see the file extensions if you do not have the setting to show file extensions enabled in the File Explorer options. To enable file extensions, you can simply click on the View menu then go to Show and select File name extensions.
There will also be a folder named en-US and within that folder a file named wordpad.exe.mui. You will need to copy the two files mentioned earlier plus the en-US folder with the wordpad.exe.mui file in it. Or you can just copy the wordpad.exe.mui file and place it in the en-US folder on your computer if it already has that folder. You can place them on a USB flash drive or external hard drive to transfer them over. Or you can simply download the required files from this link.
Once you have the WordPad files on your Windows 11 computer, simply place them in the same folder that you copied them from on the other computer. You can then make a shortcut to the wordpad.exe file on your desktop, start menu or taskbar as needed.
Method 2 – Add WordPad Back by Installing the WordPad for Windows 11 App
If you do not feel comfortable trying to copy the WordPad files to the proper folders on your computer, you can use the WordPad for Windows 11 app provided by Winaero. This version of WordPad gets installed on your computer just like any other software. Then once it’s installed, you will have a full functional version of WordPad just like you did before.
To begin, you will need to download the WordPad for Windows 11 installation file here. The file will be in a zip file format and once you extract the zip file, you can simply double click the wordpad-1.0-setup.exe file to start the installation.
The installation is very basic and the only thing you really need to decide on is if you want the WordPad app to be available to all the users on your computer (if you have any others), or just for your user account. If you want a desktop icon for WordPad, you can leave the Create a desktop icon box checked.
Once the installation is complete, you will have in icon for WordPad on your desktop as well as on your Start menu under the Apps section.
As you can see, it’s very easy to add WordPad back to Windows 11 using one of these methods.
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