Microsoft Adds AI Text Editing to Notepad and New Generative Tools to Paint

Microsoft is bringing AI capabilities to Notepad, the simple text editor introduced back in 1983. Through a new feature called "Rewrite," Windows Insiders can now test AI-powered text editing within Notepad, allowing them to refine sentences, modify tone, and adjust content length. The Windows Insider Blog states that this feature aims to enhance text customization for users looking to rephrase their writing more effectively. If you're a Windows Insider with early access to Rewrite, you can try it by selecting text within Notepad, right-clicking, and choosing "Rewrite." A dialogue box will appear, where you can set the desired change, whether to make the text longer, shorter, or rephrased. The tool will then offer three different rewritten options for you to choose from. You'll need to log into your Microsoft account to use Rewrite, which operates through a cloud-based service that requires user authentication. Initially, the Rewrite feature is launching on Windows 11 in select countries, including the US, France, UK, Canada, Italy, and Germany. This follows Microsoft's recent updates to Notepad in July, which introduced spell check and autocorrect. Alongside AI enhancements in Notepad, Microsoft is also rolling out new AI-based image editing tools in Paint. These tools, previewed last month, include Generative Fill and Generative Erase features that Windows Insiders can now test. Generative Fill lets users add elements to an image based on text prompts, making it easy to insert contextually appropriate content. Meanwhile, Generative Erase enables users to remove parts of an image, with the AI seamlessly blending the background to fill the empty space left behind. Initially, the Generative Fill feature will be available to testers on Copilot Plus PCs, while the Generative Erase tool will be accessible to all Insiders using Windows 11. These AI additions to Notepad and Paint highlight Microsoft's ongoing efforts to enhance creativity and productivity within its longstanding Windows applications, giving users powerful new tools to edit text and images intuitively.