Microsoft integrates 'Explain with Copilot' into Notepad, adds new Snipping Tool features

Microsoft is adding AI features to its classic Windows Notepad app for Windows 11 after it was revealed a month ago that they are also working on a 'Cowriter' feature. This time, it's a new feature called "Explain with Copilot," which allows users to analyze selected text in Notepad, with an early version of the updated app currently available for testing in the Windows Insider Canary and Dev Channels.

To use Explain with Copilot, users select text in Notepad and right-click. The selected text is automatically copied into the Microsoft Copilot (Windows & 365) sidebar, which searches the internet for relevant information. This is the first time Microsoft has integrated Windows Copilot into its built-in applications.

In addition to the updates for Notepad, new non-AI based features have also been added for the Snipping Tool, allowing users to add shapes like rectangles, ovals, lines, and arrows to mark their screenshots, with the ability to resize, move, or change the shape color. These features shouldn't take too long to arrive in the stable build, but in the meantime, they can already be tested by Insider Members