Windows 11 has an abundance of great features, and one of them is the simple and lightweight Notepad. It is a time-honored application that has been with us throughout most versions of Windows.

1. Left-click on the Search icon in the Taskbar

Hover your mouse pointer over the icon that looks like a magnifying glass (Search icon) and press the left mouse button.

2. Make sure the ‘All’ tab is selected

Move your mouse pointer onto the All tab and left-click it to ensure it’s selected if it’s not already underlined.

3. Type ‘notepad’ into the search bar

Left-click on the search bar and type in Notepad using your keyboard.

4. Select Notepad

Move the mouse pointer over the listed Notepad app and press the left mouse button to open it.

And there you have it. Simple, easy, and now you’ve got everyone’s go-to text editor open for you to use for any number of tasks.

How to create a permanent shortcut to Notepad

If you want the application to be accessible instantly, I’ll show you how to pin it to your Taskbar in a matter of moments.

Now that you have Notepad opened up, by following the steps above, please do the following to pin it permanently.

1. Right-click on the Notepad icon in the Taskbar

While hovering your mouse pointer over the Notepad icon in the Taskbar, press the right mouse button, and a contextual menu will appear.

2. Left-click on ‘Pin to taskbar’

With your mouse pointer over the ‘Pin to taskbar’ option, press the left mouse button to pin it to your taskbar permanently.

You can unpin it the same way if you want to remove it.

You also can left-click (and hold the mouse button down) on the icon once it’s pinned and drag it across the Taskbar to place it anywhere you want between the other icons you have, then release the mouse button to keep it there.