If you've been waiting for tabs to arrive in Notepad, similar to File Explorer in a recent Windows 11 update, then you're in luck.
According to Windows Latest (opens in new tab), Microsoft was working on this back in 2019 for Windows 10, but was shelved. However, with tabs in File Explorer already helping plenty of users and their workflow, mine included, it makes sense to have this feature in Notepad as well.
It may arrive in the next ‘Moment' update, which is Microsoft's next attempt at rolling out smaller improvements to Windows 11 every few months, before the major update at the end of the year.
Yet, with tabs now in two of Microsoft's well-known apps, what else could benefit?
Taking a tab
I remember first using tabs in Mozilla's Firefox browser – it was a big selling point for it at the time, as Internet Explorer 6 was still a one-window browser. Nowadays, I'm using tabs everywhere, from Adobe Photoshop to switch between different projects, and the Finder app on macOS to switch between different folders.
I can see tabs making sense in Microsoft's other apps – Paint could be a good candidate, so you can switch between your different masterpieces for example, while Calendar could be another great choice if you're signed up to multiple calendars, and you don't want them all to look cluttered in one view.
However, Notepad is a strange one to have tabs soon, as the app has always been about simplicity. You open the app, and you're immediately brought to a blank page where you can start writing down your thoughts, or your novel. It's always been an app for me to jot some thoughts down, especially before Notes on my iPhone replaced this function for me.
It's still a great, free alternative to Microsoft Word on Office 365 if you needed to just write something and not worry about the formatting. And I believe, for now anyway, that tabs won't cheapen the app, it'll just make it more useful for productivity.
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