95 Responses to “How to work with WordPad in Windows”

  • Tom Roberts - Kansas City says:

    Appreciate your comprehensive tutorial on application of WordPad. It is a great help to me in preparing a book for production by Blurb Bookwright.

  • jim piburn says:

    MY DOCUMENTS OPEN IN SOME KIND OF ENCRYPTED TEXT.. HOW DO I CHANGE TO REGULAR TEXT?.

  • Wayne Sheppe says:

    I am using WordPad in Windows 10 to write a letter. I selected the Line Spacing button and chose option 1.0 (for single-spacing) on the drop-down list. But when I typed my letter, the spacing between lines was double-spaced. Why does it do that?

  • LUCIAN DAJDEA says:

    you are the best Very simple explanation ,clear w/o confusion going stricktely to task with picture, ,excelent

  • Loretta Verde says:

    How do I delete a file from those I have saved?
    On word pad.

  • Brian S Davis says:

    Thank you for making your tutorial available online and especially for having the facility to solicit comment. With Windows 7 I prefer using WordPad
    because it is straightforward and I can just get on with the document instead of negotiating more complex programs. However, why can’t I, or rather how can I close the file without exiting WordPad? Quick key control W doesn’t do it. Thank you.

  • mang isda says:

    Hi. How do you make Wordpad to open with the Home Tab by default? Cause mine always open with File Tab by default. Thanks.

  • mrs carole payne says:

    How do you move text up or down to get it in centre of page?

  • Jeffer03 says:

    I love Wordpad and use it a LOT. I’m a Sr IT guy and administrator for large system servers for email and other databases. Throughout the day I have to keep track of many things and need to save a lot of info for things I’m working on. I use Wordpad as a kind of scratch pad to keep track. I type and also paste pics from screen grabs. Often the pics are large so in order to see them I switch to Landscape mode. The 1 thing that bugs me the most is Wordpad will not ever save the orientation of the document. This is a problem I’ve dealt with for over 10 years. Using Word for what I do is too cumbersome so I just have to change back to Landscape manually when viewing some of my saved documents or if I want to print them, which is rare. I don’t see why Microsoft cannot fix this very obvious shortcoming of the app. It’s a great utility and quick way to record and save important info. Thanks! BTW I have searched and searched this topic and came up empty handed.

  • Charles Layton says:

    How do you delete a document from Word Pad?

    • Ciprian Adrian Rusen says:

      You delete the WordPad file from where you saved it, just like any other file.

  • RoseMarie Bartley says:

    How do I attach a document to an email?

  • Jane McWhorter says:

    How do I access spell check in Word Pad and how do I set margins?

  • Neal Kanter says:

    Is spell check possible?

  • ALAN CAMPBELL says:

    I am running windows 10 with the newer version of Wordpad installed. For the life of me I can’t find anyplace in the tool bar where I can set tabs. Can you help. Thank you

  • ANN DAVIS says:

    When I get to the end of the first line of the text and press enter, it jumps to a double space for the next line rather than a single space. How can I make it single space?

  • John Burrus says:

    Thanks!

  • jb says:

    In the old Word versions, I could easily create legal document templates (lined pages with numbered lines for text. Don’t see how to do this in wordpad.

  • rbhipp says:

    Had some grandchildren playing games on my laptop. Today when I opened Wordpad the typing mode has been changed from normal typing to override. How do I get it back to normal typing mode or maybe it is called insert mode?

  • Jim Arrowood says:

    My windows 10 was installed via Microsoft. During setup of wordPad there is no association with my Outlook email program. When wordpad email button is selected a screen note states ” establish association via default programs control panel”. Location and/or further details are not provided… please help!
    Thank you in advance.
    JimA

  • zohreh says:

    how insert a comment in the main text?

  • Ellen says:

    When I print a document on WordPad only half of the document prints leaving the bottom half of the paper blank. I changed the paper size to A4 and got a few more lines but not the whole document. Why is this happening?

    • Joyce says:

      5/23/16 I assume I accidentally created a permanent ‘page break’ in WordPad. Text appears as a full page on my screen, but prints the top half on one sheet of paper and prints the bottom half on a 2nd sheet of paper. This now happens with all WordPad printouts.

  • wanda says:

    Now I had to uninstall and reinstall my printer as it would NOT print if I did not save everything i printed. One thing I see missing when using wordpad NOW, is in the upper left corner was something like a clipboard, that you clicked on to say save or not. Well I could click do not save and all was cool. It just showed a blank screen to post again. NOW as of about 3 hrs, the only way to click save or not save, is to the click the arrow in right hand corner, which closes the wordpad completely. Any suggestions? I have tried and tried to get that clipboard icon back with no luck. Thanks.

  • wanda says:

    I HATE Windows 10. Working on my new lap top and got printer hooked up, only 2 discover in windows 10, word pad only double spaces, so there goes my cookbook I was printing. Wish I could go back to XP. Can anyone tell me how to single space in word pad for windows 10?

    • Hilliare says:

      When you press enter to go to the next line, hold down the shift key, probably with your left hand, and it should only go down one line, instead of two. It’s not only windows 10 but other versions such as 8.1 also seem to have this problem. Also, try not to think like a human, rather we must all go to roboton thinking, or should we resist?

  • James Robinson says:

    I have an existing resume and I want to add info to it. Also I need my headline to be in a box

  • Steve B. says:

    Was typing along in WordPad and the page I was typing simply dissapeared! Nowhere to be found. I continued typing my closing, wrongly assuming that the initial page was somewhere….all I got was the last sentence….What gives?

  • Taras Bunka says:

    why is “Wordpad” so unreliable when using the “Save AS’ feature on a simple .txt file, saving to .dos. Edlin was reliable

  • Phil says:

    Please, how do I get around the “double space” problem?

    How do I skip to the next page when typing for a new chapter, ect.?

    Thank you!

  • tina downahm says:

    thank you for this tutorial. Am I able to print an insert for a card. I usually go into format but cant find it on wordpad

  • Donald G. Wilson says:

    I used to run Micro Basic Office 2007 on my other computer. My new computer is running Windows 8 and although I have the CD for Basic Office it will not take it. So, I am using Wordpad
    to type letters but I would like to make my own return address labels. I have Avery #18160 for template 5160. I asm lost and cannot seem to make it work and I do not want to buy anything more.

  • Bob says:

    When I paste a printed document with a graph or chart, the charts and graphs do not paste. Why? How can I fix it.

  • Leroy Ahlers says:

    Document as typed looks good but when printed or looked at in print preview it changes from the original. Paragraph indents are all messed up. How can I print it to look like I have it typed out? Very frustrating. I have tried saving etc. If I could correct it on the print preview page but that is not an option?

  • I. van Rhyn says:

    I had Windows XP before and created columns on Wordpad to keep records of my guest house (about 7 different columns with for example name of guest, date of arrival, length of stay etc. When I upgraded to Windows 8.1, I discovered with a shock that when all this data for the past 10 years was transferred to my new computer it did not work any longer as nothing is aligned at all. I want to know how I can fix this problem as I am already 2 months behind with all the new data that needs to be added . I don’t like Excell because it is way too complicated

  • Elizabeth says:

    Why is my WP document printing differently than it looks on screen? Different placement of text?

  • Maggie says:

    How do I transfer the document I created to Facebook?

  • shirley says:

    how can I set defaults so that every new document is created using a certain font type and size?

  • angela cotton says:

    I am trying to print something from the wordpad obviously its in the wrong format because on print preview and printing it looks like a bunch of jiberish instead of the document im trying to print? ? What do i need to do.ive tried changing formats not letting me.

  • Howard Wolfman says:

    I use Office 2010, all of the sudden, when I open MS Word and save a document it is saved in Wordpad, How can I get back to saving in MS Word.?

  • Alaa Aref says:

    what if i forgot to save a document and closed it .

  • John says:

    This new wordpad sucks. The old one was much better (from screenshot 1). The main problem is that they tried to turn it into Microsoft Office’s Word – but if I wanted to use that, I’d use that. I used to use wordpad because it was a better version of the notepad. Now it’s just a worse version of Word… so what’s the point of even using it any longer? Guess it’s back to using the notepad… ugh.

  • Sören Robertsson says:

    How can I sort Words in a list after the first letter i the Words? I have Windows 7.

  • Wrenn says:

    On the Windows 8 version of WordPad, how can I get it to show the page breaks? I am a student and I really need to see where I am on the page without referring back to print preview all of the time.
    Thanks in advance!

    • phly95 says:

      Get Libreoffice, WPS office, or just use Google docs. I prefer Libreoffice, of all the free ones.

  • Robert Miles says:

    Some but not all of my Wordpad documents ( i.e. RTF files) increase their file sizes disproportionally to the amount of content in them. I am referring to RTF documents containing only text content and not containing any inserted pictures or objects.
    For example; a file that was originally 50 KB will increase to 100 KB in size
    after I have re-opened it and to saved it and where I have only made minor editions to the document.
    Each time that I open and save the file, its file size increases significantly, if not exponentially.
    I suspect that this is only occurring to the RTF files in which I have copied-and-pasted text content
    from the internet and I suspect that there are some embedded objects which have been pasted
    into the RTF document along with the text … which I am unable to see on the page.
    I didn’t have this problem until recently and I would like to be able to continue
    copying-and-pasting text content from the internet into WordPad without their file sizes bloating up.
    I copy-and-paste text content from the internet into Wordpad in order to compile excerpts of information,
    so that I can (i) avoid the risk of infecting my computer from downloading webpages in their entirity ;
    (ii) minimize the file size to maintain freespace on my HDD and to make the file easier to work with ;
    and (iii) edit documents in a word processor with basic formatting capabilities.
    Does anyone know the cause of the problem I have described and if so,
    then how can I reduce the filesizes of the boated RTF files on my HDD
    and how can I prevent this problem from re-occurring ?
    Any solutions you can provide will be greatly appreciated.
    Thank you, Miles.

    FYI: I am using WordPad version 6.1.7601.17514 on the WIN 7 Pro SP1 ( 64-bit ) platform.

    • Jan Machacek says:

      Hello Robert, did you solve the problem with the size of rtf files? For I have quite a same problem, not with all my rtf files, but sometimes it happens – that a file containing just moderately formated text (and some web links) suddenly becomes really huge – like tens or even hundreds of megabytes.

      It naturally helps to reduce the size back if I save the text as a simple txt file (and subsequently possibly transfer back from txt to rtf) – but in this way the text of course looses all its formating.
      …Well, just now I tried to copy all the text from a rtf file (opened in Wordpad) to MS Word (2010, 64b) and then let Word to save it as rtf – and so far this seems to work the best of what I’ve tried.

      Best regards, Jan
      (W7 Ultimate SP1 64b, Wordpad 6.1.7601.17514)

  • James Braun says:

    when i tried to do the above today; the “space after paragraph” would turn itself back on. I kept doing the above until it finally worked.

  • james braun says:

    word pad re: ribbon bar; paragraph; line spacing.
    referenced line spacing is set at 1.5 and space after paragraph. i changed the ‘line space’in the ribbon bar to 1.0 and do not space after paragraph. i also checked the same in the top bar. when i start typing, the ‘line space’ changes back to 1.5 and space after paragraph. how do i keep my change from reverting back to 1.5 and space aftr paragraph?

    • james braun says:

      on the top number bar; click the print form icon which will show the line spacing selections. click the “space after paragraph” turning that off. hold down the control (ctrl) key and select the 1.0 in the list of selections.

  • Ronald Conyers says:

    Three Questions.
    1. Is there spell check ? If so how do I access it?
    2. When typing my resume, I don’t see all of the little bells and whistles such as large dot’s & squares.
    3. How do I upload my resume onto a job application?

  • Lynn M Williams says:

    Help! I have just found out that my resume does not print properly. For some reason there is missing and misaligned information in the last section. This is NOT a printer problem, as it has printed this way for several different prospective employers to whom I have sent it. I’m devastated and embarassed. IT LOOKS FINE ON PRINT PREVIEW! What could be the problem? The problem area is in my listing of references, which are listed as a name, a gap, title, a gap, and phone number. Could the problem be in the tabbing or leaving of spaces between those? Help please!

  • Benny G. Sørensen says:

    When trying to send Wordpad Document as e-mail I get the error “Send Post could not send message”, No e-mail program attached. If I check standard programs in the control panel the outlook mail program which is in use are marked as the standard program for protocol MAILTO and MS-MAIL. ANy sugestions ?

  • judy murphy says:

    I make lists. How do get my lists, whatever they are, alphabetized? For instance, I have a long list of books, and their authors. I want them alphabetized. How do I do that?

  • MeMe says:

    I would like to see the number of words and pages, and how do I turn on autocorrect?

  • EWARTY says:

    excuse my ignorance but Im at in page two of my doc and it wont let me type anymore ???

  • mike s. says:

    I typed some stuff on word pad with windows 7 and saved it to the stick, when I put the stick in the laptop with windows 8 and I click on word pad and open it, everything I typed and saved on the stick is just a bunch of weird letters, how come my original stuff I typed doesn’t come up?

    • Ciprian Adrian Rusen says:

      Maybe you used a font that you don’t have in Windows 8 or, a language with special characters that are not is not installed in Windows 8 or the encoding of the file is not supported by Windows 8.

  • Megan Popple says:

    How do I vertically align text?

  • Lisa Madewell says:

    I would like to be able to view the top & botton margins at all times, without clicking on Print Preview. Is there a way to do this?
    Thanks

  • ka says:

    how to i make a template in the word pad from 2007?

    • Ciprian Adrian Rusen says:

      Wordpad does not have this feature. You can create document templates in more complex software like Microsoft Word (found in the Microsoft Office package) or LibreOffice.

  • Travis says:

    How do you view page breaks for writing papers or reports for students? Thanks in advance.

  • B. Wilgus says:

    How do I rename document saved as rich text using windows 8?
    How do I delete document saved as rich text using windows 8?

    • Ciprian Adrian Rusen says:

      1. Open File Explorer. Browse to where you saved the document. Then, right click on it and select Rename. Type the new name and press Enter.

      2. Open File Explorer. Browse to where you saved the document. Then, select it and press Delete on your keyboard. Confirm that you want to delete the file.

  • Lisa says:

    Help Please… When I open a document the typing is lined up and it looks good til I go to print it, All words are misaligned and large spaces between words and numbers. Can any one help me fix this or tell me what I’ve done wrong

    • Ciprian Adrian Rusen says:

      When you print, click on the Preferences button for the printer you want to use. Then, edit your printing settings to be as you want them to be. Also, you will find a Preview before printing setting. Enable it, so that you can view how the document will look when printed, before printing it.

    • Randy Banovz says:

      I have same problem. Have u found a solution?

  • Helen says:

    I edit documents. This job requires the option of inserting Comments. Does WordPad offer this very basic tool? If so how do I access it? And if not … why not?

    • phly95 says:

      Or you can use Libreoffice for free. (Or WPS office, though it lacks many spell checking features in Libreoffice and MS Office) It has commenting on it. With Libreoffice, I don’t even see the need to use Wordpad

  • pyotr says:

    If I wanted a full fledge word processor, I’d use one.

    I don’t want a “Rbbon” taking up screen space to offer forty-11 fonts in 18 sizes, buttons to edit pictures/images/ videos and sound files. All the while hiding the “basic” purposes of a wordprocesing : enter text, edit text and store text.

    And what is with the default “double space” folderol?

    No, Wordpad for Windows 7/8 is not “improved” – save as a means of improving sales or downloads of alternatives. Like so many MS “improvements” it is more … stuff to get in my way, and nto improve my “experience”.

    • Ciprian Adrian Rusen says:

      If you don’t want the ribbon to take up space, double click on any of its tabs and it will be minimized. Then, you will have a full screen writing and reading experience.

    • wanda says:

      I agree with you, and Windows 10 is no better. If anything, it is more confusing. Thinking if I can’t find the help I need in wordpad with windows 10, I am gonna hook my printer back up to my windiws xp computer.

  • Lynda A says:

    When I insert the cursor to make a correction in a document, then type the correction, the next letter disappears. How do I stop this unrequested deletion?

  • Mary Hieke says:

    when I copy & paste my document, only the copy is highlighted not the paste, where & how can I copy & paste?

  • Bob Irvine says:

    When preparing a document 2 or 3 columns
    in width, how do you set tabs?
    example:
    Blah, blah, blah,blah How are you doing at
    blah blah. Blah, blah, the new job? I hope it
    blah! it works out.

  • Bob says:

    How do I set tabs so I can print vertical columns
    in wordpad with windows8?

  • D. Schilz says:

    How do you change the vertical spacing on windows 8? We have it set on 1 but it gives us a space and a half (1 1/2) between lines.

    • Hilliare says:

      Yes, how do you change the vertical spacing for wordpad on windows 8?
      I would like each line below the one above it with no space between.

    • M. Shoemaker says:

      I want to single space my document. I select 1, but still get double spacing.

  • Sister Maria says:

    How does one change the right margin? A Plain & Simple Windows 7 book says to drag the indent markers to set R. L, and indent margins. I tried, and nothing moves or changes. Sister

  • Reginald Therrien says:

    I spent 15 minutes creating a template for my private use. When I saved the template in a text format (this is what I needed the template for), it did not save any of my settings.

  • joanl little says:

    I would like to know how to change the defaults in and how to enlarge the toolbar icons. Also, is there a way to capitalize the 1st letter in a new line automatically?

  • Anonymous says:

    When I open wordpad the screen does not cover my computer screen. It’s just a small rectangle within the complete screen. How do I get wordpad to expand to take up the entire screen? Maximize/minimize don’t help. Thank you. [email protected]

  • Allison says:

    How do I get it to not print page numbers?

  • Ian says:

    How do I get “draft 10cpi” font that was available in Wordpad in Windows 98, which I had before going to Windows 7?

  • sulasno says:

    MSPaint for Windows 7 rocks too

    would be nice if both Paint and WordPad could be available for Windows XP 🙂

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