Windows Notepad has changed a lot over the years. Microsoft has added tabs, Markdown support, bold and italic text, links, Copilot integration, and more recently, tables. The next addition will be full image support, according to information shared by Windows Latest based on internal company sources.
The feature already appears as a button in the Notepad toolbar in some Windows Insider preview builds, although it is not active yet. Microsoft has confirmed that it is being tested internally and that, based on its tests, the impact on performance is minimal. It will be enabled by default when it launches, but users will be able to disable it in the settings.
More Features, More Security Risks for Notepad
The downside of this strategy has already become clear. Just a few days ago, Microsoft had to patch a remote code execution vulnerability in Notepad, tracked as CVE-2026-20841, with a severity score of 8.8 out of 10. The issue was related to how the app processes Markdown files and links. An attacker could send a malicious .md file and, if the user clicked on a manipulated link, run code with the victim’s privileges. The fix was released during the February 2026 Patch Tuesday.
During its early decades, Notepad was one of the safest apps in the Windows ecosystem, mainly because it did very little. Editing plain text offers almost no attack surface. However, every new feature adds complexity, and complexity opens new doors. What Microsoft presents as a necessary evolution to make up for the removal of WordPad is slowly turning Notepad into something very similar to what it aims to replace, along with the risks that come with it.
Microsoft wants Notepad to be more useful and modern. Image support is another step in that direction, especially for users who rely on Markdown. Still, the recent security issue raises concerns about how far this transformation should go.
For many users, Notepad was valuable because it was simple and reliable. As it gains more advanced features, the balance between usefulness and security becomes more important than ever.
