Compare Notepad, WordPad and Word on Windows 10, which application is more useful?

Microsoft has developed a lot of different software to make our daily work easier. However, sometimes we do not know what the exact task of specific software is. Notepad, WordPad and Microsoft Word look like they’re doing the same thing, but they’re actually made for different purposes.

In this article, we invite you to learn the most accurate function of Notepad, WordPad and Microsoft Word.

What’s the difference between Notepad, WordPad and Word?

Notepad is a text editor with very little functionality compared to WordPad and Word. On the other hand, WordPad and Word are almost the same but still have some differences. Below are detailed explanations to help you find out which software is right for your typing and text editing needs.

Notepad: The simplest text editor

Notepad is a simple text editor and a very basic text editor that you can use for simple documents. This application is currently used by hundreds of thousands of people to write projects.

Notepad was introduced by Microsoft in 1983 and only allows users to enter plain text. It does not allow you to change the text format and is suitable for those who write code, make web pages or other plain text uses.

Notepad can be used to create batch files to run in Command Prompt and scripts to run in Power Shell.

Notepad can also be used to create unformatted text by copying the formatted text, pasting it into Notepad, and then copying it back. It only allows users to create and save documents as .txt files. Not containing many formats makes Notepad files small and easy to share.

Because images and graphics are not supported, documents created in Notepad cannot contain images or any kind of graphics. Notepad also cannot open files with heavy or high-level formatting. It cannot be used for word processing, does not have grammar checking, text correction, and other word processing features.

WordPad: Basic Text Editor

WordPad is a basic text editor that you can use to create documents such as memos, notes, letters… The application is compatible with most versions of Windows. It is more advanced than Notepad but simpler than Microsoft Word.

WordPad is a better and preferred text editor than Notepad because it offers more options to the user. Although heavier, open longer than Notepad, but WordPad is more convenient than Word. The WordPad interface is quite simple, including the status bar, toolbar, menu bar, and page layout options.

With WordPad, you can easily create .txt files. The software also supports .txt, .doc and .odt formats. It also allows users to insert images, hyperlinks and dates. Unlike Notepad, WordPad supports graphics and provides formatting features for users.

However, WordPad does not offer as many formatting capabilities as Word. In addition, it is not suitable for writing HTML files, scripts or other types of program code.

Compare Notepad with WordPad

The practical difference between Notepad and WordPad is that while Notepad only handles simple text, WordPad can create more complex documents, including graphics and various text formatting features.

Microsoft Word: The Complete Word Processor

Microsoft Word is a complete word processing tool developed by Microsoft. It can compose, edit, process documents, add photos, graphics, draw charts…

Word has enough features to develop highly structured documents. It is one of Microsoft’s most widely used office applications globally. Users can format the text quite easily with Word and then can save it as a file, print or share it as they like.

Word-edited documents can be saved in .doc, .docx… Word also supports all kinds of different text formats.

Word has a toolbar with lots of different tools, a status bar, the ability to set up headers and footers, a quick access toolbar, and more. into the watermark.

Unlike Notepad and WordPad, Word provides spell checking and grammar checking tools (for some languages). It also provides the ability to create unformatted text with special paste options. Word also has built-in templates to help create professional-looking letters, invitations, brochures, posters, catalogs, flyers, and more.