# Windows Notepad 86 Hacker News commenters recommended Windows Notepad and 251 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 12 of 13 months. **Verdict:** People recommend it as a fast, minimal, always-present plain text editor that works without setup, though many now object to the newer Windows 11 version's added features. ## Why people recommend it - Fast, lightweight, starts quickly (4 comments): "I think it was noticing that Notepad (and Calculator) in Windows 10 took a countable number of seconds to open" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46028014)) "Anything with a scripting engine isn't lightweight compared to (classic) Notepad!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47157353)) "It still starts very fast, even with quite large files and line wrapping." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46313581)) - Minimal dependencies, reliable when system breaks (3 comments): "the old Notepad was deliberately designed with minimal dependencies so that even if everything else in the system went to hell you'd still have a working editor" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46567782)) "It's far better to use an application that you can count on already existing on the machines." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47156543)) "I want something that Just Works™ with no configuration just like Win95 Notepad." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47162437)) - Simple, intuitive, no configuration (3 comments): "More modern editors like Sublime Text, Kate, or even Notepad have an advantage of being intuitive." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46698206)) "Notepad should be the single-simplest of text editors, always has been, always should be" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46976705)) "I want something that Just Works™ with no configuration just like Win95 Notepad." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47162437)) ## What people warn about - Added AI, sign-in and Copilot features (4 comments): "their need to cram AI and account sign-in into it definitely seemed over the top" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46927791)) "Notepad and mspaint have now copilot integration. With full authentication integration that will likely fail for people in corporate environment." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46973483)) "Even Notepad isn't a dumb app anymore! They made breaking changes after 40 years so it has autocorrect, rich text, and Copilot." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49426131)) - Security vulnerability from Markdown preview (4 comments): "The moment Microsoft started adding crap to Notepad, we knew that it was only a matter of time before such a vulnerability cropped up." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46982308)) "In no world did I expect Notepad to have the ability under any circumstances to make network requests and execute arbitrary code." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46973638)) "Plus this Markdown preview functionality just caused Notepad to have a Remote Code Execution Vulnerability in it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47157532)) - Buggy, slow to load or paint (2 comments): "The new notepad is a buggy embarrassment. When you disable the "Continue previous session" option you can very easily lose unsaved changes" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47162622)) "the new Notepad is hilariously buggy. Repeatedly encountered bugs where the screen fails to paint, takes multiple seconds to load" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47154935)) - File association blocked on Windows 11 (2 comments): "Works great still, but now windows won't let me associate .txt files with it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46975412)) "The amount of hacking required to even be allowed to re-associate text files with that particular exe on Win11 was shocking to me." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47264248)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [TextEdit](https://hackerapproved.com/p/textedit.md): 15 recommend - [Microsoft Edit](https://hackerapproved.com/p/edit-exe.md): 10 recommend - [CotEditor](https://hackerapproved.com/p/coteditor.md): 9 recommend - [Pico text editor](https://hackerapproved.com/p/pico.md): 6 recommend - [Atto text editor (NetBSD)](https://hackerapproved.com/p/atto-text-editor.md): 6 recommend ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Windows Notepad", https://hackerapproved.com/p/windows-notepad/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).