A leaked screenshot from the end of 2022 indicated that Microsoft was working on adding tabs to Notepad. Sure enough, the feature is now live in test builds of Windows 11.

Notepad version 11.2212.33.0 is rolling out now to people in the Windows Insider program running the Windows 11 Dev Channel. The update introduces support for multiple tabs in one Notepad window, which Microsoft explains as "a top requested feature from the community." It works just as you would expect, with the ability to have multiple documents open in one window, with a tab bar now occupying the title bar area.

Microsoft wrote in a blog post, "you can also continue to work with files across multiple windows by dragging a tab out into its own window, and a new app setting lets you customize whether files open in new tabs or a new window by default. There are also new keyboard shortcut keys to support managing tabs as well as some improvements to managing unsaved files, like automatically generating the file name/tab title based on content and a refreshed unsaved changes indicator."

Notepad already received a significant update alongside the release of Windows 11, with updated text rendering, better find and replace, and dark mode support. Tab support makes the long-running text editor even better, and could mean fewer people seek out an alternative on new PCs. Still, free alternatives like Notepad++ and Visual Studio Code are in a completely different league than Windows Notepad.

Microsoft didn't mention when Notepad tabs will roll out to everyone on Windows 11, but it probably won't take too long.

Source: Windows Blog