Microsoft’s Notepad has been around for over four decades. The simple text editor has remained largely unchanged for much of that time, though it has seen a surge in development of late. For example, Notepad now supports character count. One constant people have been able to count on is that Notepad is free and does not require an account. Both of those have now come into question, though the situation is not as bad as it once appeared.
Notepad now includes a prompt to sign in to a Microsoft account, an addition that drew worry and criticism. But the prompt only refers to those who want to use the AI-powered Rewrite feature. You can still use Notepad without a Microsoft account or a paid Microsoft 365 plan. I’ve also seen a separate prompt to sign up for a Microsoft 365 Personal or Microsoft 365 Family account when trying to use Rewrite within Notepad. Notably, both those plans require payment.
You don’t have to use Rewrite to use Notepad as a text editor. In fact, you can disable the feature altogether and won’t even see an icon for it within Notepad. Still, the icon and prompts related to Rewrite could be viewed as ads. Trying to use Rewrite if you do not have a paid subscription will ultimately lead to a page for subscribing to Microsoft 365, or at least that’s what happened in my testing.
One of the new prompts was spotted by X users TheBobPony.
Sign in with a Microsoft Account for Notepad?! 🙄 pic.twitter.com/VfZVM44EC0February 16, 2025
Microsoft won’t receive the benefit of the doubt from many. The tech giant has placed ads within the Start menu, File Explorer, and its Weather app. There are also Game Pass ads within the Settings app. I know some people don’t refer to them as ads, but what else is a banner highlighting a product you have to pay for?
Do you need a Microsoft account to use Notepad?
Despite initial concerns caused by a sign in prompt, you do not need a Microsoft account to use Notepad on Windows 11. You also do not need to pay for a plan to use the application. You do, however, need both a Microsoft account and a paid plan to use Copilot features within Notepad.
“To use Rewrite, an AI-powered feature, you need AI credits that are included with a Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscription, reads a prompt that will appear if you try to use the Rewrite feature when not signed in.
Honestly, I’m not sure if I should describe this as Microsoft requiring an account and a paid plan to use Notepad. The app works as before without a Microsoft account or a subscription, but there is now a feature that requires a paid plan. To fully unlock the app, you do need to pay and have a Microsoft account.
I’d say the current model is best described as “freemium.” The app has free features and can be used without seeing ads or having to pay to unlock features but those who want to use the full breadth of the app’s features need to pay.
I imagine Microsoft sees the addition of the AI-powered Rewrite feature as a perk of Microsoft 365 that otherwise does not affect the core of Notepad. A support document from Microsoft breaks down AI credits and how to get them.
What do you think about Rewrite being behind a paywall? Let us know in the comments below.
