Charles Esther
Sometimes, all you need is a simple solution.
When it comes to text editing, Notepad was once the go-to tool—simple, quick, and reliable.
However, Microsoft’s latest simple text editor, Edit, has taken that concept and improved it, beating Notepad at its own game.
What Happened to the Old Edit?
If you’ve used Microsoft operating systems for a long time, you might remember the original Edit program that came from the days of MS-DOS.
This original Edit was a 16-bit application and was deprecated with the release of Windows 11.
Windows 11 no longer supports 16-bit applications, meaning you cannot run the old Edit without using an emulator, which defeats the purpose of having a simple and quick text editor.
The New Microsoft Edit Is Superb
There is very little to say about Microsoft Edit, and that is a great thing.
It is minimalist, fast, and no-nonsense, making it a perfect choice for quick text edits.
The user interface is as minimal as you can get while still having a visible menu.
There are just four main buttons: File, Edit, View, and Help.
Despite the simplicity, the Edit menu includes useful features like find and replace, which are essential when working with long configuration files.
A Minimal Interface With Powerful Features
Edit is designed primarily as a command-line tool but allows full mouse interaction whether you use Windows Terminal or the older Console Host.
It respects common hotkeys that make text editing easier, including:
- Ctrl+N for New File
- Ctrl+O for Open File
- Ctrl+S for Save
- Ctrl+Z for Undo
- Ctrl+Y for Redo
- Ctrl+F for Find
- Ctrl+R for Replace
The Great Tab vs. Space Debate
In programming communities, the choice between using tabs or spaces for indentation is a well-known debate.
Microsoft Edit offers a smart solution by letting you choose which to use.
If you select “Spaces,” pressing the tab key inserts a fixed number of spaces that you can delete one by one.
If you choose “Tab,” pressing tab indents by a fixed number of spaces but acts as a single character.
This flexibility is ideal for developers and text editors who care about formatting preferences.
Painless Remote Use via SSH
For those who regularly connect to Windows PCs using SSH, Microsoft Edit works perfectly out of the box.
Unlike the need for complex setups like VSCode Remote or third-party apps, you can simply install Edit with Winget and start editing immediately.
It even supports Arm CPUs, making it versatile for different devices.
How to Install Microsoft Edit
There are two main ways to install Microsoft Edit.
Install from GitHub
Visit the Microsoft Edit GitHub releases page and download the latest version for your CPU architecture—x86_64 or Arm.
Extract the ZIP and run the executable.
To launch Edit from any terminal window, add the executable’s folder to your Windows PATH.
Install from Winget
The easier option is to install via Winget, which automatically adds Edit to your PATH.
Open a terminal window and run:
winget install Microsoft.Edit
Then simply type edit in Command Prompt or PowerShell to launch the app.
This method is perfect for remote or headless Windows servers.
Add Microsoft Edit to the Right-Click Context Menu
To open text files with Edit from the right-click menu, right-click any text file, choose “Open With,” then “Choose an app on your PC,” and navigate to where Edit.exe is located.
Once selected, Edit will appear in the “Open With” list for easy access.
For a custom icon, download the Edit SVG from GitHub, convert it to ICO, and apply it using Resource Hacker.
Feature Creep Ruins Other Text Editors
Notepad, once the quintessential minimalist text editor, has increasingly suffered from feature creep.
Originally, it had no tabs and only two formatting options: word wrap on or off.
Now, it includes AI-powered Copilot integration and even requires logging into a Microsoft account for some features.
This bloat defeats the original purpose of a simple editor.
Microsoft Edit avoids this pitfall by staying true to minimalism and speed—at least for now.
Conclusion
Microsoft Edit is a breath of fresh air in the world of text editors.
It offers simplicity, minimalism, and essential features without unnecessary extras.
Whether you are editing configuration files, coding, or making quick text changes, Edit is an excellent replacement for Notepad and the old Edit.
Try it out today and experience simple text editing the way it was meant to be.
