How Do I Open Notepad?

Notepad is a great text writing program that is available on Windows operating systems. The user can hide Notepad depending on the version of windows being used.

Finding Notepad through the Start Menu List

To open notepad through the start menu, follow this process:

Click Start (on Vista/Windows 7 it is a Windows Button) on the task bar.  Click "All Programs" and scroll up the list to the "Accessories" menu. Click Notepad to open the program.

Note: Not all versions of Microsoft Windows have the start menu in this format. Users may need to go through a few more items to find Notepad.

Using Keyboard Shortcuts to Open Notepad

The quickest way to open notepad on most Windows machines is to use the keyboard shortcuts. Here is the process:

Hold down the "Windows" key and press the letter "R" on the keyboard. This will bring up the Run Dialog window and will allow the user to type in a command.

Next, type "notepad" into the text field and click "Ok" in the Run Dialog window. This will tell the computer to run the "notepad" program from the default location. A blank Notepad document should open.

Note: This process may not work if there have been changes to the computer system that affect how the Run Dialog works. Use the first method described in this article to open Notepad if this option is unsuccessful.