Products · Product
Notepad
Raised as a usability problem by 34 people on Hacker News over 16 years (2011–2026), in 29 threads.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads this year.
Every issue, all time, most people first
Opening 1 MB text files takes forever in NotepadUnreviewed
20112026- Opening text files around 1 MB takes forever in Notepad and another editor2023-01-14
- Old Notepad froze for minutes when word wrap was toggled on a huge file2022-09-30
- Takes about a minute to open a file that isn't huge2022-09-30
Notepad launches slowly and has visual glitchesUnreviewed
20112026- New Notepad is embarrassingly slow to launch and has visual glitches2025-10-24
- Simple apps like Notepad and Paint lag noticeably on modern hardware2023-06-28
- Editing in Notepad-style editors over slow links is sluggish due to screen refresh and display options2012-01-04
Unreviewed issues were grouped by machine: Claude Haiku labelled each comment as a usability complaint, named what it's about and summed up the problem in a line, and a small model grouped similar problems. Nobody has checked them by hand. Expect mistakes.
The newest 34 complaints
- Cut is the first option and Copy is hidden behind a menu, risking data loss2026-10-27
- Modern Notepad is described as completely unusable by the commenter2026-08-24
- Closes the tab and loses unsaved content when the file is deleted on disk2026-05-03
- Typing quotes gave wrong characters until user changed language and keyboard settings2026-03-16
- Bloated update made a simple app slower and less predictable for its users2026-01-10
- New Notepad is embarrassingly slow to launch and has visual glitches2025-10-24
- Tab handling in New Notepad is confusing enough to be a dealbreaker2025-05-23
- Notepad now adds tabs, multiple windows and extra features the user wanted simple and plain2025-03-17
- Old Notepad was clunky, with many windows to manage and data lost on exit2024-11-08
- Can't figure out how to disable the tabs2024-11-07
- Can't tell if a file is already open in another tab or instance; old text reappears on launch2024-11-07
- Pressing Ctrl+P prints immediately without asking for confirmation, causing accidental print jobs2024-09-03
- Pressing back erases typed characters one by one, alarming the user2024-05-27
- Tiny titlebar drag area makes tabs get dragged off by mistake2024-02-03
- Plain Notepad feels almost unusable for text files compared to alternatives2024-01-07
- Simple apps like Notepad and Paint lag noticeably on modern hardware2023-06-28
- Transparent search box always gets in the way and is annoying2023-03-02
- Opening text files around 1 MB takes forever in Notepad and another editor2023-01-14
- Notepad is literally unusable compared to Notepad++2022-12-25
- Old Notepad froze for minutes when word wrap was toggled on a huge file2022-09-30
- Suddenly removes all line breaks from a file being edited, forcing restart2022-09-30
- Takes about a minute to open a file that isn't huge2022-09-30
- Notepad refuses to open large text files, saying they are too large, and hangs on 1 GB files2022-01-21
- Extra whitespace reduces the usable screen space for actual work2021-12-08
- Scrolling lags with animation and choppy, resizing drops below 1 FPS on big files2021-12-07
- Scrolling while selecting text runs at inconsistent speeds depending on mouse movement2019-07-03
- Low information density and poor layout make it hard to use2018-07-12
- Ctrl+Backspace inserts a square character instead of deleting a word2017-10-09
- Find does not wrap around, so searching the whole document requires moving the cursor to the start2017-07-24
- Notepad doesn't handle Unix line endings well, causing annoyance2017-07-11
- Lacks auto-indentation, so learners must type indentation by hand and get frustrated2016-08-29
- Line breaks sometimes vanish on save, with no clear cause2012-10-16
- Editing in Notepad-style editors over slow links is sluggish due to screen refresh and display options2012-01-04
- Gets a Save or Cancel prompt every time switching apps and back2011-05-31