New Notepad app with dark mode arrives for Windows 11 Insiders

What you need to know

• Microsoft is releasing a new preview version of Notepad.
• It includes a brand new UI and a dark mode (finally!)
• It's available now for Insiders in the Dev Channel.

Notepad is an app that has been part of Windows for as long as Windows has been a thing, which means it's a big deal when it gets updated. Today, Microsoft is releasing the first preview of a new Notepad app built specifically for Windows 11, featuring a new Fluent design interface that matches the rest of the Windows 11 UI, and finally introducing dark mode alongside it!

The new Notepad app is rolling out now for Insiders in the Dev Channel on the latest Windows 11 preview build, 22509. Outside of a face lift, it doesn't appear there are any new features shipping with today's preview update. Still, a new face lift is good to see, especially considering the Notepad UI hasn't been updated since the Windows Vista days.

Microsoft is slowly, but surely, updating its in-box apps on Windows 11 to align them with the rest of the Windows 11 design language. It's the first time since Windows 7 and Windows 8 that we've seen a consorted effort by Microsoft to align the design language across all Windows apps, which should make for a much more polished user experience when complete.

The new version of Notepad is beautiful in both light and dark mode. It has modern fluid context menus too, though not all of the dialogs and popups have been updated with the modern interface yet. This is just the first preview build, so more updates are expected before it starts shipping to production PCs.

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Microsoft recently updated its legacy Paint app with a similar new face lift too, which also aligned it with the Windows 11 design language. Again, no new features have been added to paint yet, as the focus appears to just be on UI. Perhaps this will change down the line.

In the meantime, what are your thoughts on the new Notepad? Let us know in the comments.