Highlights:

  • Just like Chrome and File Explorer, Microsoft’s Notepad can have tabs in its list of features.
  • Every version of Windows had Notepad but without many changes. Now, it can have a bar at the top showing different tabs and a plus icon to open new ones.

The most underrated app of Microsoft Corp may soon get an upgrade in Windows 11. It was all after a senior product manager tweeted that the application would get the tab support.

Notepad, originally known as Multi-Tool Notepad, debuted in 1983 as a stand-alone application before being incorporated into Windows 1.0 in 1985. It is simple but fundamentally practical. Since then, Notepad has been a part of every version of Windows, and not much has changed.

In support to the update, a tweet was noticed by senior product manager which stated, “Notepad in Windows 11 now has tabs” and included one picture to its right. The image comprises a tabbed interface resembling the File Explorer, with the bar at the top having different tabs and also a plus icon to open new ones.

The image also has the text “Confidential – Don’t discuss features or take screenshots”. In the same line, XDA developers noted that it is not unusual for Microsoft to ‘dog food’ early builds of apps and services to the employees. As it comes with a confidential warning, we can understand it as an internal build. The image and source all point to the test version is real.

If released, the update could be offered through a simple Windows 11 update. It will be like when tabs became available in Windows 11 of File Explorer early this year. However, there is no guarantee that it will be released because Microsoft has been here before also. A report by Latestly said that Microsoft tried tabs across all Windows 10 apps in a feature called as Sets four years ago. The Sets feature included tabs in Notepad and File Explorer but Microsoft stopped the project. Thus, Windows 10 customers never got this benefit.

Users will be happy to have tabs if they are made available in Notepad. The only option to have multiple Notepads open at the moment is to launch another Notepad, which is similar to using web browsers before tabs were added in the early to mid-2000s.

That Notepad is about 40 years old, and it is still preferred by many people for writing text. It was further developed as a testament to its simplicity. How-To Geek noted in 2020, Notepad is still “awesome” for taking notes. There must be many other apps for taking notes, but still Notepad works as quick and simple solution.