Notepad in Windows 11 can now rewrite text with AI
Microsoft on Wednesday introduced a new artificial intelligence (AI) feature in its Windows 11 operating system. Currently in preview, the tech giant has added an AI-powered rewrite feature to Notepad. This capability allows the note-taking app to edit text and offer three versions of customized content based on the user’s preference. Currently, it is only available to Windows Insiders living in certain regions. Furthermore, even those with access to the feature have a limited number of credits to test it out.
Microsoft is testing AI-powered Notepad
In his Windows Insiders blog postMicrosoft has detailed the new capability in the Notepad app. Notepad was originally added to Windows OS in 1983 as a text editor, providing a quick space to write and edit text. Over the years, the tech giant has changed its appearance and functionality little.
However, that’s about to change with the new AI Rewrite feature. This allows eligible users to refine their text by rephrasing sentences, adjusting the tone or adjusting the length of the content. Users also have the option to have the AI change just part of the text instead of the entire piece. The company stated that it uses a GPT AI model for this feature, without specifying the specific large language model (LLM).
AI rewrite feature in Notepad
Photo credits: Microsoft
To use the feature, users must highlight the text they want to change. Then, when they right-click on the selected text, they will see a new “Rewrite” option. It can also be activated using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + I. Once the AI toolbar opens, users can choose from the aforementioned rewrite options.
Notably, Windows Insiders living in the US, France, UK, Canada, Italy and Germany will get 50 credits to test out the feature. However, Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscribers, as well as Copilot Pro subscribers in Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand, can use AI credits to access the feature. They receive a total of 60 credits per month.
Microsoft emphasizes that the feature comes with pre-built content filtering and automatically removes text that may be harmful, offensive or inappropriate. Furthermore, Rewrite uses cloud-based Azure to process and generate text. The tech giant stated that the online service does not store the text after processing and does not generate any content.
