How to Open and Close Files in Notepad (Windows 11)

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This tutorial covers:

  1. What is the Microsoft Notepad App?
  2. How to Open Notepad With Search
  3. How to Pin Notepad to the Taskbar With Search
  4. How to Pin Notepad to the Taskbar With Right Click
  5. How to Pin Notepad to the Taskbar From Start
  6. How to Pin Notepad to Start
  7. How to Open a File With Menu
  8. How to Open a File With Keyboard Shortcut
  9. How to Open a New Window With Menu
  10. How to Open a New Window With Keyboard Shortcut
  11. How to Open a New Tab With Menu
  12. How to Open a New Tab With Keyboard Shortcut
  13. How to Open a New Tab With Click 
  14. How to Open a New Tab With Right Click
  15. How to Close a Window With Menu
  16. How to Close a Window With Keyboard Shortcuts
  17. How to Close All Windows With Menu
  18. How to Close a Window With Click
  19. How to Close a Window With Right Click
  20. How to Close a Window With Double Click
  21. How to Close a Window With Hover
  22. How to Close a Window With Hover and Right Click
  23. How to Close a Window With Right Click on Taskbar
  24. How to Close a Tab With Menu
  25. How to Close a Tab With Keyboard Shortcut
  26. How to Close a Tab With Click
  27. How to Close a Tab With Right Click
  28. How to Close Tabs On the Right Side
  29. How to Close Multiple Tabs

No time to scroll down? Click through this tutorial presentation:

 

See it in action with this video tutorial: 



What is the Microsoft Notepad App?

Notepad is a basic text editor that comes with Windows 11. The Notepad app creates text files for various applications, such as editing code or writing stories. Notepad can save files with UTF-8 encoding, and customize headers and footers with special codes. 


How to Open Notepad With Search

  • Step 1: Go down to the taskbar and click Start (four blue squares).

The computer screen displays the Desktop, with the taskbar at the bottom of the window. On the left side of the taskbar, the cursor clicks the Start (four blue squares) button.

  • Step 2: In the Start window, click in the search bar at the top and type "notepad".

The cursor clicks inside the Search bar at the top of the Start window.

  • Step 3: On the results screen, click one of the following to open Notepad;

-On the left side under "Best Match" click "Notepad App".

-On the right side click "Notepad App".

-On the middle right side click "Open".

On the search results screen, three blue rectangles highlight the three buttons that can be clicked to open the Notepad app. The first blue rectangle is on the "Notepad App" button which is on the left side of the screen under the words "Best Match". The second blue rectangle is on the upper right side of the screen where "Notepad App" is. The third blue rectangle is on the middle right side where the word "Open" is.


How to Pin Notepad to the Taskbar With Search

  • Step 1: Go down to the taskbar and click Start (four blue squares).

The computer screen displays the Desktop, with the taskbar at the bottom of the window. On the left side of the taskbar, the cursor clicks the Start (four blue squares) button.


  • Step 2: In the Start window, click in the search bar at the top and type "notepad".

 The cursor clicks inside the Search bar at the top of the Start window.


  • Step 3: On the results screen, go to the middle right side and click "Pin to taskbar".

On the search results screen, the cursor goes to the middle right side and clicks the "Pin to taskbar" option.

  • Step 4: Go down to the taskbar and click the pinned Notepad app icon to open the app.
The first image displays the search results window with the message "Notepad pinned to taskbar". The cursor clicks the pinned Notepad app icon on the taskbar at the bottom of the computer screen. The second image displays the computer Desktop with the opened Notepad window on top of the Desktop.



How to Pin Notepad to the Taskbar With Right Click

  • Step 1: Open Notepad. Go down to the taskbar and right click the Notepad app icon.

The computer Desktop displays the opened Notepad window. On the lower right side of the taskbar at the bottom of the screen, the cursor right clicks the Notepad app icon.

  • Step 2: In the menu that opens, click "Pin to taskbar".

The computer Desktop displays the open Notepad window. On the taskbar at the bottom of the screen, a menu appears above the Notepad app icon. The cursor clicks the "Pin to taskbar" option in the menu.
 

  • Step 3: Go down to the taskbar, right click the pinned Notepad app icon, and in the menu that opens, click "Notepad" to open the app.

A menu appears above the Notepad app icon on the taskbar at the bottom of the screen. The cursor clicks the "Notepad" option in the menu.

 

 

How to Pin Notepad to the Taskbar From Start

  • Step 1: Go down to the taskbar and click Start (four blue squares).

The computer screen displays the Desktop, with the taskbar at the bottom of the window. On the left side of the taskbar, the cursor clicks the Start (four blue squares) button.


  • Step 2: In the Start window, right click the pinned Notepad app icon. In the menu that opens, click "Pin to taskbar".

Towards the bottom of the Start window, the cursor right clicks the pinned Notepad app icon. A menu appears below the pinned Notepad app icon, and the cursor clicks the "Pin to taskbar" option in the menu.

Note: If Notepad is not yet pinned to Start, then see the following tutorial.

 

 

How to Pin Notepad to Start

  • Step 1: Go down to the taskbar and click Start (four blue squares).

The computer screen displays the Desktop, with the taskbar at the bottom of the window. On the left side of the taskbar, the cursor clicks the Start (four blue squares) button.

 

  • Step 2: In the Start window, click in the search bar at the top and type "notepad".

The cursor clicks inside the Search bar at the top of the Start window.

 

  • Step 3: On the results screen, go to the middle right side and click "Pin to Start".  

On the Search results screen, the cursor goes to the middle right side and clicks the "Pin to Start" option.


  • Step 4: Click Start twice, and in the Start window click the pinned Notepad app icon to open it.

The cursor clicks the Start (four blue squares) button on the lower left side of the taskbar, which is at the bottom of the computer screen. Towards the bottom of the Start window that opens, the cursor clicks the pinned Notepad app icon.

 

 

How to Open a File With Menu

  • Step 1: Open Notepad. Go to the upper left and click "File".

The computer screen displays an open Notepad window on top of the Desktop. The cursor goes to the upper left of the Notepad window and clicks the "File" button.

  • Step 2: In the menu that opens, click "Open".

A menu appears under the word "File" on the upper left side of the Notepad window. The cursor clicks the "Open" option in the menu.

  • Step 3: In the "Open" window, click to select a file, and at the bottom of the window click the "Open" button.

In the "Open" window, the cursor clicks to select a file named "example1". The cursor clicks the "Open" button at the bottom of the "Open" window.

 

 

How to Open a File With Keyboard Shortcut

The computer screen displays an open Notepad window. The computer shortcut keys of "Ctrl + O" appear at the bottom of the Notepad window.

  • Step 2: In the "Open" window, click to select a file, and at the bottom of the window click the "Open" button.

In the "Open" window, the cursor clicks to select a file named "example1". The cursor clicks the "Open" button at the bottom of the "Open" window.

 

 

How to Open a New Window With Menu

  • Step 1: Open Notepad. Go to the upper left and click "File".

The computer screen displays an open Notepad window on top of the Desktop. The cursor goes to the upper left of the Notepad window and clicks the "File" button.

 

  • Step 2: In the menu that opens, click "New window".

The first image displays the open Notepad window. On the upper left side of the Notepad window, the "File" button reveals a menu. The cursor clicks the "New window" option in the menu. The second image displays the Desktop with two open Notepad windows.

 

How to Open a New Window With Keyboard Shortcut

  • Step 1: Open Notepad. On the keyboard press Ctrl + Shift + N.
The first image displays an open Notepad window. A graphic of the shortcut keys of "Ctrl + Shift + N" appears at the bottom of the Notepad window. The second image displays the computer Desktop with two open Notepad windows.



How to Open a New Tab With Menu

  • Step 1: Open Notepad. Go to the upper left and click "File".

The computer screen displays an open Notepad window on top of the Desktop. The cursor goes to the upper left of the Notepad window and clicks the "File" button.

 

  • Step 2: In the menu that opens, click "New tab".

The first image displays the open Notepad window. On the upper left side of the Notepad window, under the word "File", a menu appears. The cursor clicks the "New tab" option in the menu. The second image displays the Notepad window with two tabs inside.


How to Open a New Tab With Keyboard Shortcut

  • Step 1: Open Notepad. On the keyboard press Ctrl + N. Alternatively, press Ctrl + T.

The first image displays an open Notepad window. A graphic of the shortcut keys of "Ctrl + N" appears on the bottom of the Notepad window. The second image displays the Notepad window with two tabs inside.

 

How to Open a New Tab With Click

  • Step 1: Open Notepad. Go past the right side of the current tab and click the Add new tab or "+" button.

The first image displays an open Notepad window. On the right side of the current Notepad tab, the cursor clicks the Add new tab or "+" button. The second image displays the Notepad window with two tabs inside.



How to Open a New Tab With Right Click

  • Step 1: Open Notepad. Right click the top of the current tab and in the menu that opens, click "New tab".  

The first image displays the open Notepad window. The cursor right clicks the current tab, and in the menu that appears, the cursor clicks the "New tab" option. The second image displays a Notepad window with two tabs inside.

 

How to Close a Window With Menu

  • Step 1: Open Notepad. Go to the upper left and click "File".

The computer screen displays an open Notepad window on top of the Desktop. The cursor goes to the upper left of the Notepad window and clicks the "File" button.

 

  • Step 2: In the menu that opens, click "Close window". 

A menu appears under the "File" button on the upper left side of the Notepad window. The cursor clicks the "Close window" option in the menu.



How to Close a Window With Keyboard Shortcuts

  • Step 1: Open Notepad. On the keyboard, press one of the following;

-If the window has only one tab open, press Ctrl + W.

-If the window has multiple tabs open, press Ctrl + Shift + W.

-For windows with one or multiple tabs, press Alt + F4 (some computers accept this shortcut as Fn + Alt + F4).

 

 

How to Close All Windows With Menu

 The computer screen displays an open Notepad window on top of the Desktop. The cursor goes to the upper left of the Notepad window and clicks the "File" button.

  • Step 2: In the menu that opens, click "Exit".
The first image displays two open Notepad windows. On the upper left side of the leftmost window, a menu appears under the "File" button. The cursor clicks the "Exit" option in the menu. The second image displays the empty Desktop without any open Notepad windows.



How to Close a Window With Click

  • Step 1: Open Notepad. Go to the upper right corner and click the Close or "X" button.

The first image displays an open Notepad window. The cursor clicks the Close window or "X" button in the upper right corner of the Notepad window. The second image displays the empty Desktop without any open Notepad windows.


How to Close a Window With Right Click

  • Step 1: Open Notepad. Right click the top of the window, and in the menu that opens, click "Close".
The first image displays an open Notepad window. The cursor right clicks the top of the window. In the second image, a menu appears under where the cursor right clicked the Notepad window. The cursor clicks the "Close" option in the menu. The third image displays an empty Desktop without any open Notepad windows.



How to Close a Window With Double Click

  • Step 1: Open Notepad. Go to the upper left corner of the window and double click the Notepad icon.

The first image displays an open Notepad window, with the cursor double clicking the Notepad icon in the upper left corner of the window. The second image displays an empty Desktop without any open Notepad windows.


How to Close a Window With Hover

  • Step 1: Open Notepad. Go down to the taskbar and hover over the Notepad app icon.

The computer screen displays an open Notepad window on top of the Desktop. On the taskbar at the bottom of the screen, the cursor hovers over the Notepad app icon, and a small Notepad window appears above the Notepad app icon.

  • Step 2: A small Notepad window appears above the Notepad app icon. Go to the upper right of the small Notepad window and click the Close, or "X" button.

The first image displays an open Notepad window on the Desktop. On the taskbar at the bottom of the screen, a small Notepad window appears. The cursor goes to the upper right of the small Notepad window and clicks the Close window or "X" button.

 

 

How to Close a Window With Hover and Right Click

  • Step 1: Open Notepad. Go down to the taskbar and hover over the Notepad app icon.

 The computer screen displays an open Notepad window on top of the Desktop. On the taskbar at the bottom of the screen, the cursor hovers over the Notepad app icon, and a small Notepad window appears above the Notepad app icon.


  • Step 2: A small Notepad window appears above the Notepad app icon. Right click the small Notepad window, and in the menu that opens, click "Close".

The first image displays an open Notepad window above the Desktop. A small Notepad window appears above the Notepad app icon on the taskbar, which is at the bottom of the screen. The cursor right clicks the small Notepad window. In the second image, a menu appears above the small Notepad window and the cursor clicks the "Close" option in the menu. The third image displays an empty Desktop without any open Notepad windows.



How to Close a Window With Right Click on Taskbar

  • Step 1: Open Notepad. Go down to the taskbar and right click the Notepad app icon.

The computer Desktop displays the open Notepad window. On the lower right side of the taskbar at the bottom of the screen, the cursor right clicks the Notepad app icon.

 

  • Step 2: In the menu that opens, click "Close window" (if Notepad has only one window open) or "Close all windows" (if Notepad has multiple windows open).
    The first image displays an open Notepad window on the Desktop. A menu appears above the Notepad app icon on the taskbar at the bottom of the screen. The cursor clicks the "Close window" option in the menu. In the second image, two open Notepad windows appear on the Desktop. A menu appears above the Notepad app icon on the taskbar at the bottom of the screen. The cursor clicks the "Close all windows" option in the menu. The third image displays an empty Desktop without any open Notepad windows.

 

How to Close a Tab With Menu

  • Step 1: Open Notepad. Go to the upper left and click "File".

 The computer screen displays an open Notepad window on top of the Desktop. The cursor goes to the upper left of the Notepad window and clicks the "File" button.

 

  • Step 2: In the menu that opens, click "Close tab".
The first image displays an open Notepad window with two tabs inside. A menu appears under the upper left corner where "File" is. The cursor clicks the "Close tab" option in the menu. The second image displays an open Notepad window with only one tab inside.


How to Close a Tab With Keyboard Shortcut

The first image displays an open Notepad window with two tabs inside. A graphic of the keyboard shortcut of "Ctrl + W" appears on the bottom of the Notepad window. The second image displays an open Notepad window with only one tab inside.



How to Close a Tab With Click

  • Step 1: Open Notepad. Go to the right side of the tab and click the Close or "X" button.  

The first image displays an open Notepad window with two tabs inside. The cursor clicks the Close tab or "X" button on the right side of the current tab. The second image displays an open Notepad window with only one tab inside.



How to Close a Tab With Right Click

  • Step 1: Open Notepad. Right click the current tab and in the menu that opens, click "Close tab".

The first image displays an open Notepad window with two tabs inside. The cursor right clicks the top of the current tab. The second image displays a menu below where the tab was right clicked. The cursor clicks the "Close tab" option in the menu. The third image displays an open Notepad window with only one tab inside.



How to Close Tabs on the Right Side

The first image displays an open Notepad window with three tabs inside. The cursor right clicks the top of the leftmost tab, and a menu appears below there. The cursor clicks the "Close tabs to the right" option in the menu. The second image displays an open Notepad window with only one tab inside.



How to Close Multiple Tabs

 

The first image displays an open Notepad window with three tabs inside. The cursor right clicks the top of the middle tab, and a menu appears below there. The cursor clicks the "Close other tabs" option in the menu. The second image displays an open Notepad window with only one tab inside.


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