(Credit: Microsoft)
Microsoft is adding more AI-powered features to its Notepad and Paint apps for Windows 11.
Notepad version 11.2410.15.0 will include a new AI rewrite feature that will let you rephrase sentences using AI. The tool can modify sentences or longer sections of text to shorten or lengthen the word count, change the tone, or format it in a different way.
The rewrite tool will generate three versions of your highlighted text at a time. You can also get it to generate another new output with the click of a refresh button. Or, ask it to replace the highlighted section with the AI text on-screen by selecting "Replace." Notepad's AI rewrite shortcut is Ctrl + I while in the app.
Rewrite is currently available in preview to Windows Insiders on Windows 11 in the US, UK, Canada, France, Italy, and Germany. If you're based in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, or Malaysia, you'll only be able to access Rewrite in Notepad if you have a Microsoft 365 Personal, Family, or Copilot Pro subscription—and it'll eat into your AI credits. Microsoft hasn't shared a full version release date or announced wider availability.
While Rewrite can help users potentially improve their writing, it could also result in your work being flagged as AI-generated—even if only parts of it were replaced with AI text. But only a few sentences tweaked by AI could also sneak past AI detectors and be used to break existing rules at some universities or publishers that prohibit any AI-generated writing.
Microsoft's Paint is also getting some new AI-powered features. Paint version 11.2410.28.0 will include a generative fill feature similar Adobe Photoshop's. Paint's generative fill will let you add different objects or visual effects in a selected area, meaning you can add castles, stars, cats, or just about anything you like just by typing text and selecting "Keep" if you're happy with the result or "Try Again" if it's not what you hoped. It's like custom, AI-powered clip art.
Copilot+ PC users who are also Windows Insiders will get access to Paint's generative fill tool first. It can be accessed by going to Selection tool > Generative fill.
Generative erase is another new Paint feature, but it'll be available to all Windows Insiders with Windows 11 to start. Generative erase lets you quickly remove elements of an image while the AI mimics what it perceives as the background of your image to quickly and seamlessly replace the erased area with the background pattern.
Paint's previously announced Image Creator feature, which is still in preview as well, is now getting a broader initial rollout.
To access most of these new features, you'll need to log into a Microsoft account and be part of Microsoft's Windows Insider program.