Unlock AI Power: Rewrite with Notepad on Windows 11 – A Quick Guide

Table of Contents

Introducing Rewrite AI in Windows 11 Notepad¶

Microsoft has integrated the power of artificial intelligence directly into the familiar Notepad application on Windows 11 with a new feature called Rewrite. This innovative tool leverages a sophisticated AI model, specifically GPT, to assist users in refining their text directly within Notepad. Rewrite is designed to enhance your writing workflow by offering intelligent suggestions for rephrasing sentences, adjusting the tone of paragraphs, and even rewriting entire documents. The system operates on an AI credit system, allowing users to utilize these powerful text manipulation capabilities efficiently.

With Rewrite, users can effortlessly transform their text to suit various needs. Whether the goal is to make sentences sound more formal or adopt a more casual tone, shorten or lengthen sentences for better clarity or impact, or even reformat text into different structures like lists or paragraphs, Rewrite provides a versatile toolkit at your fingertips. The feature presents the rewritten text in a separate window, conveniently displaying between three to five distinct variations for the user to choose from. This allows for quick comparison and selection of the most suitable option, streamlining the editing process.

Privacy and security are paramount considerations in the design of Rewrite. The feature utilizes an Azure online service to process text and generate suggestions. Importantly, Microsoft assures users that this service is engineered to not store the generated content or the original text processed. This commitment ensures that user data remains private and secure throughout the rewriting process, addressing potential concerns about data handling in AI-powered tools.

Currently, the Rewrite feature is available in preview for Windows 11 Insiders located in specific regions. These initial regions include the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, and Italy. Users in these regions are granted an initial allocation of 50 AI credits to explore and utilize the Rewrite capabilities. Beyond these preview regions, access to Rewrite AI in Notepad is also extended to users in Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, and Taiwan. However, in these regions, utilizing Rewrite requires either a Copilot Pro subscription or a Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscription, linking access to existing Microsoft subscription services.

Enabling Rewrite AI in Notepad¶

Even if your current geographical region is not officially listed among the supported areas, it is still possible to enable and begin using the Rewrite feature within Notepad on your Windows 11 system. This can be achieved through a simple adjustment in your Windows settings, allowing you to access and experience the AI-powered text refinement capabilities. The process involves a few straightforward steps within the Windows 11 settings menu.

To enable Rewrite AI, begin by opening the Windows 11 Settings app. The quickest way to access Settings is by using the keyboard shortcut Win + I. Once the Settings app is open, navigate to the Time & language section, and then select Language & region. Within the Language & region settings, locate the Country or region option. Click on the dropdown menu associated with this setting and change your region to United States or any of the other officially supported countries mentioned earlier, such as the UK, Canada, France, or Italy.

After adjusting your region settings, it is crucial to ensure that your Notepad application is updated to the most recent version. This update will incorporate the Rewrite AI feature into the application. You can typically update apps through the Microsoft Store application on Windows 11. Once the update is complete, the final step to fully activate the changes is to sign out and then sign back into your Windows 11 PC. This ensures that the system recognizes the region change and applies the necessary configurations for the Rewrite feature to become available in Notepad.

Following these steps, launch Windows Notepad and ensure you are signed in with your Microsoft account. Upon opening Notepad, you should now observe a Rewrite icon located in the top-right area of the Notepad window, usually positioned before your profile icon. This icon visually indicates that the Rewrite AI feature is now enabled and ready for use within your Notepad application.

In some instances, even after following these steps, the Rewrite icon might not immediately appear. If this occurs, you can manually verify and enable the feature within Notepad’s settings. To do this, open Windows Notepad Settings by clicking on the gear icon within the Notepad application itself. Scroll down within the Settings menu until you locate the AI Features section. Within this section, you should find a Rewrite option, often presented as a toggle switch. Ensure this toggle is switched to the On position to explicitly enable the Rewrite AI functionality. You can also use this toggle to turn the feature off if desired.

Utilizing Rewrite AI in Notepad on Windows 11¶

To begin using the Rewrite AI feature, first, open an existing text document within Notepad or start with a fresh, new TXT file. Once you have your text ready, locate and click on the Rewrite button situated in the Notepad toolbar. Clicking this button will unveil a set of options, each designed to perform a specific text refinement task. These options are presented in a clear and self-explanatory manner, making it easy to choose the desired function.

The primary option, labeled simply Rewrite, is designed to rewrite the entire document. Selecting this option will engage the AI to analyze and rephrase the complete text content of your Notepad document. For users who prefer keyboard shortcuts, the Ctrl + I hotkey provides a quick and efficient way to activate the document rewrite function, bypassing the need to click the toolbar button.

Beyond rewriting the entire document, Rewrite AI offers options to adjust the length of your text. The Make shorter option instructs the AI to condense the selected text, aiming for brevity and conciseness. Conversely, the Make longer option prompts the AI to expand upon the text, adding detail and elaboration to increase its length and depth.

The Change tone option allows users to modify the emotional or stylistic character of their writing. Selecting this option reveals a submenu of tone choices, including Formal, Inspirational, Casual, Humor, and Persuasive. Choosing one of these tones directs the AI to rewrite the selected text while subtly shifting its language and style to align with the chosen tone. For instance, selecting “Formal” will result in text rephrased with more professional and structured language, while “Casual” will yield a more relaxed and conversational tone.

Similarly, the Change format option enables users to alter the structural presentation of their text. This option presents a range of formatting styles, such as List mode, Paragraph, Business, Marketing, Academy, and Poetry. Selecting a format will instruct the AI to re-organize and rephrase the text to fit the conventions of the chosen format. For example, choosing “List mode” might transform paragraphs into bullet points or numbered lists, while “Poetry” could restructure sentences to adopt a more rhythmic or evocative style.

To utilize these options, simply select the sentence or paragraph of text you wish to modify within your Notepad document. Then, choose the desired Rewrite option from the toolbar menu or the context menu that appears when you right-click on the selected text. All of these Rewrite options are also conveniently accessible through the right-click context menu within Notepad, providing an alternative method to access the AI features directly from your text.

Upon selecting a Rewrite option, the system will utilize one AI credit, and the text rewriting process will commence. This process typically takes only a few seconds to complete. Following the processing, a pop-up window will appear on your screen, which can be moved and repositioned as needed. This pop-up box displays the different versions of the rewritten text generated by the AI. Within this box, you will typically find between three and five distinct text variants, each offering a different approach to the requested rewrite. Review these variants and choose the one that best aligns with your intended meaning and style. Once you have made your selection, click the Replace button located within the pop-up. This action will seamlessly insert the chosen rewritten version directly into your Notepad document, replacing the original selected text.

In addition to the Replace function, the pop-up window also provides the option to Copy the rewritten text to your clipboard. This is useful if you want to paste the rewritten text into a different location or application. Currently, the pop-up interface does not offer a direct option to edit or make further changes to a specific rewritten version within the pop-up itself. However, if you are not satisfied with the offered variants, or wish to refine the rewrite further, you can utilize the Length, Tone, and Format options again to initiate a new rewriting process. Clicking the Try again icon will re-process the original text based on the current settings. It is important to remember that each time you initiate the rewriting process, regardless of whether you use the “Try again” icon or select a new option, it will consume one AI credit.

Beyond the customization and rewriting options, the pop-up window includes essential controls. In addition to the Copy and Discard options, you will find an icon, usually located in the bottom right corner of the pop-up, that displays the number of remaining AI credits you have. To close the pop-up window without applying any of the rewritten text, simply use the Discard icon. After discarding, you can begin the process again with different text or options.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)¶

Enabling Classic Notepad on Windows 11¶

For users who prefer the interface and functionality of the older, classic version of Notepad, it is possible to enable or restore this version on Windows 11. To revert to the Classic Notepad, begin by opening the Settings app. Navigate to Apps, then select Advanced app settings, and finally, click on App execution aliases. Within the list of app execution aliases, locate Notepad (notepad.exe). Toggle the switch associated with Notepad (notepad.exe) to the Off position. This action disables the new version of Notepad from being launched by default.

After disabling the alias, you can access the classic Notepad by navigating to the C:\Windows directory using File Explorer. Within this folder, locate and execute the notepad.exe application file. Alternatively, you can also access the classic Notepad executable file by navigating to the C:\Windows\System32 folder and double-clicking on notepad.exe. Executing either of these notepad.exe files will launch the classic version of Notepad. If you wish to switch back to using the new version of Notepad, simply re-enable the notepad.exe option within the App execution aliases settings.

Accessing Notepad Settings in Windows 11¶

To access the settings for Notepad in Windows 11 (or Windows 10), open the Notepad application. Look for a gear icon typically located in the top-right corner of the Notepad window. In some versions, this might be labeled as Settings directly. Clicking on this gear icon or the Settings label will open the Notepad Settings page.

Within the Notepad Settings page, you can customize various aspects of the application. Options typically include changing the app theme, allowing you to select between light, dark, or system default themes. You can also adjust Text Formatting options, such as font style, font size, and font. Additionally, the Settings page usually provides access to Spelling options, allowing you to configure spellchecking preferences within Notepad. These settings allow you to personalize your Notepad experience to better suit your preferences and workflow.

Rewrite AI in Notepad offers a significant enhancement to the standard text editing experience on Windows 11. By integrating AI-powered rewriting capabilities directly into a widely used and simple application, Microsoft has made advanced text refinement tools accessible to a broader audience. Whether for quickly adjusting tone, condensing text, or reformatting content, Rewrite AI provides a valuable set of features that can streamline writing and editing tasks. Experiment with the different options and discover how Rewrite AI can improve your text creation process within Notepad.

We encourage you to try out the Rewrite AI feature in Notepad and share your experiences and thoughts in the comments below! Let us know how this AI integration impacts your workflow and what features you find most helpful.