Microsoft is constantly enhancing and expanding the functionality of the Windows 11 Notepad software; the most recent addition is an integrated character counter.
Up until now, users have been forced to utilize third-party solutions like Notepad2 or Notepad++ if they required a quick way to count characters in a text file.
Microsoft bowed in and added a character counter to Notepad’s status bar—a feature that is now available to Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels as of Notepad version 11.2311.29.0.
“When text is selected, the status bar shows the character count for both the selected text and the entire document,” claimed Microsoft.
“If no text is selected, the character count for the entire document is displayed, ensuring you always have a clear view of your document’s length.”
Additionally, Redmond updated the File Explorer context menu with a “Edit with Notepad” item that enables users to access and edit any file fast with the Notepad text editor.