Windows 11 getting rid of WordPad

Microsoft has announced that it is removing the venerable WordPad app in the next version of Windows 11, coming later this year. Not to be confused with Microsoft Word, WordPad is a free app built into Windows. It offers easy opening and editing of Microsoft Word documents, and creation of rich text documents. It has been “just right” for those who want to write simple letters and open Word docs they receive from other people. 

Now that Microsoft is removing WordPad, they are clearly hoping more folks will sign up for the paid Microsoft Office suite, which starts at $149.99 for the buy-once version, Office 2021, or $69.99/year for a Microsoft 365 Personal subscription.

Fortunately, there are still free options available. Top apps include OpenOffice and LibreOffice. Microsoft itself offers a no-cost, limited web browser-based version of Word, but it has received mixed reviews when it comes to performance and usability.    ​