Now that users can uninstall Windows Notepad completely, they will be able to rename a Notepad replacement's executable to Notepad, add the replacement program's folder to the system PATH, and launch the new text editor as if it was Notepad. You can also find the executable program by these steps: click the Start button -> scroll down in the all programs list -> find and expand the Windows Accessories folder. To do so, users would need to make changes to the Registry using the 'Image File Execution Options' key. The default location of the Notepad.exe is C:\Windows\System32 folder.
Over the years, Windows users have become comfortable launching Notepad by simply typing Notepad and pressing enter in the Run dialog box or the Start Menu search field.Īs Windows Notepad is a system program located in C:\Windows, installing a Notepad replacement like Notepad2 and Notepad++ and being able to launch them using the 'Notepad' command has never been simple. Much easier to install Notepad replacements For now, these programs will continue to be installed by default, which makes sense as they take up little space (Microsoft Paint is 6.58 MB, Notepad is 627 KB, and WordPad is 6.24 MB) and are useful to those who do not need more feature-rich alternatives.īy being able to remove them, though, it allows users to install more feature-rich replacements in an easier and more organized manner.