Windows 10: Cannot Open Microsoft Notepad

I use Microsoft Windows 10 Pro 10.0.19044 Build 19044.I enter "Notepad" in Start box in lower left hand corner. The app selection for Notepad appears.I select open.The little Notepad icon displays on the tray at the bottom of screen.I click on Notepad icon, but it does not open.Notepad does not appear in my list of apps under Settings menu.I try to download Notepad from Microsoft store, but they say I already have it installed.

:)

 

Notepad

Hi,

Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft Community. Appreciate your interest in using Windows 10.

I suggest you to follow the steps provided below:

• Open Task Manager. Here’s a tip: press CTRL+SHIFT+ESC.
• Click on Startup tab.
• Select Notepad from the list and click on Disable.

Hope the information is helpful. Feel free to write to us
for any other assistance with Windows, we’ll be glad to assist you.

 

Notepad won't open in Windows 10

Hi Oliver,

I'm Louie, a Microsoft Community member and a fellow Windows 10 user like you. Hope you're doing well and safe there.

I would suggest you to uninstall Notepad and reinstall it.

To uninstall Nopetad follow the steps below:

Press Win+I to open the Settings.

Go to Apps > Apps & Features.

In the right pane, click on ‘Optional Features’

Type Notepad in the search box and click on Uninstall.

If you have uninstalled the Notepad application and now want it back, you can easily reinstall it in a few simple steps.

Open Settings and go to Apps & Features

In the right pane, click on Optional Features.

Click on Add a Feature

Type Notepad in the search bar or scroll down to find it.

Click on Notepad and Install.

Try to launch Notepad and see if it works.

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Louie.

 

Notepad consuming cpu 40%

Your screenshot of Task Manager and the notepad.exe properties shows the same size and creation date as in @dalchina's earlier screenshot. So it looks like it is the real notepad that's running.

But - it isn't running the way it should. In your Task Manager there should be a > to the left of notepad, and clicking on it should open up a list of the Notepad instances that are running, along with the name of the document that's open (or 'Untitled - Notepad' if none).

Yours doesn't show that (compare it with dalchina's screenshot). Notepad is running - yes, but not the way it's supposed to. It appears to be in the list of background processes, not in the list of Apps where it should be. Could something be trying to run it as a service? Perhaps some malware set this up, but failed to replace the genuine notepad.exe with its counterfeit one?

As a first step I'd look at the Startup tab in Task Manager for clues.