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Windows 11: Paint, Notepad and Snipping Tool get even more AI features, and you may find some even useful

Microsoft announced a range of new AI features for the classic Windows programs Paint, Notepad and Snipping Tool. While some can be best described as more of the same, some are new and sounding useful.

The announcement reveals that the updates come to the applications in Canary and Dev versions of Windows 11. It is likely that they will launch in stable versions of Windows 11 later this year, but Microsoft has not published a timeline at the time of writing.

Let's take a look at the three programs and the features that Microsoft is introducing, starting with the weakest of the bunch.

Notepad

Notepad Write AI

Notepad, version 11.2504.46.0, received a few AI features in the past already. These allow users to rewrite existing content among other things. The latest version adds text generation to the mix. Write what you would like and Copilot creates text based on the instruction in Notepad.

The feature requires AI credits and works similarly to other AI tools, including free to access tools like the web-version of Copilot that do not require AI credits. To that extend, it is not particularly useful, unless you use Notepad frequently for writing and use AI tools for text generation as well.

How to use: Press Ctrl-Q, right-click and select write, or select Write from the Copilot menu.

Tip: you can restore classic Notepad in Windows 11, if you like.

Snipping Tool

Snipping Tool AI

The latest version of the Snipping Tool, the default screenshot app of Windows 11, comes with a new feature that Microsoft calls Perfect screenshot. It uses AI to create perfect screenshots in rectangle or region-picking mode. The main idea behind the feature is to make it easier to select a specific area on the display for capturing the screenshot.

Some users may find it difficult to create pixel-exact screenshots of elements shown on the screen. The AI helper makes that easier, says Microsoft.

How to use: Select the Perfect Screenshot button from the Snipping Tool toolbar to use the feature. You may also hold down the Ctrl-key when selecting a region on the screen.

Snipping Tool is also getting a Color Picker. It enables you to get the color code -- in HEX, RGB, or HSL -- of any pixel on the screen.

How to use: Select the Color Picker tool from the toolbar and then move the cursor over the pixel that you want to get color values of. Zooming using Ctrl+ or Ctrl- is supported as well.

Paint

Paint Object AI

Microsoft Paint is getting another round of AI tools in the latest update. The new Sticker Generator uses Copilot's image generation capabilities to create new stickers for you. Type dog on a surfboard, and Copilot creates four stickers for you that, hopefully, resemble what you typed.

This is not a particularly new feature, as Microsoft offered image generation for quite some time already, including on the Copilot website. Unlike text generation, the creation of images on the Copilot website requires an account.

More useful sounding than the sticker generator is the new object selector. It enables you to select any object on the screen for editing, e.g., copying or color changing.

So, if you had problems in the past extracting or selecting objects in images in Paint, this AI helper tool is there to make the process easier. Most users probably have used a different tool for the job, as Paint's bare bones functionality is often not well suited for complex tasks.

How to use: Click on the Object Select button in the toolbar and then on the element that you want selected. The AI handles the rest, according to Microsoft.

These features are only available on Copilot+ PCs according to Microsoft's announcement.

Closing Words

Object selector, Perfect screenshot and color picker sound like useful additions, provided that you use Paint or the Snipping Tool on Windows for these tasks. Windows users who have no need for AI in the programs may turn it off according to Microsoft to be done with it. Many AI features are reserved for Copilot+ PCs and it seems unlikely that Microsoft is going to lift those restrictions in the future.

Now You: do you use AI features in your operating system, in apps, or on the Web? If so, which features do you find useful? Feel free to leave a comment down below to join the discussion.

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