Microsoft is giving some of its most recognizable Windows apps a drastic AI overhaul, and if you’re a Windows 11 Insider on the latest Canary or Dev builds, you’re watching it happen live. Paint, Notepad, and the Snipping Tool—those trusty old tools you’ve likely used since the dawn of time—are now bursting with fresh features that seem like they’re straight from the future.
Let’s take a closer look at what’s new and why it’s a significant development.
Paint: Doodles to AI-Generated Stickers
What was once a simple tool for pixel art and rough sketches, Paint is now entering the age of artificial intelligence. Perhaps one of the neatest additions is the Sticker Generator. Simply enter a description—”a cat wearing sunglasses,” for example—and Paint will generate a group of customized stickers from your input. You can plop them on your canvas, save them, or use them anywhere else.
There’s also a new Object Select tool based on AI. Rather than manually selecting objects in an image, you can now right-click on an object, and Paint will select it for you to edit. It’s a huge time-saver if you’ve ever struggled with pixel-perfect selections.
To facilitate users ‘ exploration of all these new tools, Paint now has a Welcome dialog that guides you through the new features. You can refer back to this guide at any time by clicking on the megaphone icon in the toolbar.
Snipping Tool: Screenshots, But Smarter
The Snipping Tool isn’t just for grabbing pieces of your screen anymore. With the new Perfect Screenshot feature, AI steps in to crop and resize your capture based on what it believes you are attempting to highlight. It still allows you to make adjustments, but it spares you the annoyance of tweaking your selection later on.
Another useful new gadget is the Color Picker. If you’re a designer or coder—or simply someone who feels strongly about getting the colors right—you can now pluck precise color codes such as HEX, RGB, or HSL directly from your screen. You can zoom in with your mouse scroll or utilize shortcuts for pixel-perfect accuracy.
Notepad: Your New AI Writing Assistant
Notepad has long been a basic, reliable writing and editing tool. But now it’s going big with AI capabilities that make it seem more like a collaborator for writing. The new Write tool allows you to generate content from a prompt or build on what you’ve written already. Right-click, select Write from the Copilot menu, or use Ctrl + Q, and Notepad’s AI will write for you. You can leave it as is, edit it, or start over with a new prompt.
This extends the previous AI tools, such as Summarize and Rewrite, but Write is the headliner—it makes Notepad a clever assistant from a text editor, making you more productive while you write faster and better.
What You Need to Use These Features
These new AI-powered features are currently available only on Copilot+ PCs—Microsoft’s latest line of devices built specifically for advanced AI capabilities. To access them, you’ll need to sign in with your Microsoft account. Moreover, some features, such as the Write function in Notepad, require AI credits. These credits are included with select Microsoft 365 subscriptions, including Personal, Family, Enterprise, and Copilot Pro plans.
The Bigger Picture: AI in Windows
All of this is the culmination of Microsoft’s massive effort to introduce AI into all aspects of Windows. The upgrades and enhancements to Paint, Notepad, and the Snipping Tool are only the start. Even the most basic apps are getting smarter, more assistive, and, honestly, a whole lot more enjoyable to use.