Windows 10: Windows 11: Paint, Notepad and Snipping Tool get even more AI features, and you may find...

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, 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




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




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.

Thank you for being a Ghacks reader. The post Windows 11: Paint, Notepad and Snipping Tool get even more AI features, and you may find some even useful appeared first on gHacks Technology News.

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snipping tool

Please try this:

Step 1:

Click Start, and type Snipping Tool.

Right-click Snipping Tool from the search results, and click App Settings

Click Reset,

Click Repair.

Note: In Windows 11, there is no Snip and Sketch. It comes pre-installed with the new Snipping Tool (which replaces the old Snipping Tool and Snip & Sketch apps)

Step 2:

Turn off Focus assist if it's enabled

Step 3:

Open Services.msc and make sure that the following services are set to "Automatic" and running:

• Windows Push Notifications System Service
  
• Windows Push Notifications User Service
  

 

Paint and Snipping Tool both not working in Win 11

Version: 10.0.22621 Build 22621

Both paint and snipping tool aren't working for me. When I launch them they pop up in Task Manager for a second then disappear. I've tried repairing, resetting, and reinstalling them but they still don't work.

I tried restarting and Snipping Tool didn't work, but then it started working for a few minutes after second restart. But after while, it stopped working again.

For Snipping Tool, I've also tried the suggestion to change your default apps in the settings, but there's no other option for me to choose unlike what was proposed in the suggested fix. I've also tried changing the notification settings for Snipping Tool and turning Do Not Disturb on and off.

I tried just using print screen and pasting the screen into Paint to select a small section that I wanted, but then found out that even paint won't launch. Photos launches though. Not sure what is going on.

 

Snipping tools and Notepad blank

Hi there, I am , a fellow Microsoft user like you.

Thank you for attempting those solutions. I understand your frustration with Snipping Tool and Notepad not working. Upon looking, both the snipping tool and Notepad are working fine on the current stable and preview builds of Windows 11.

To better assist you, could you let me know when this issue first started occurring?

Are you using the insider build of Windows 11?

Additionally, are there any other applications on your system that are experiencing a similar problem?

Let's work together to resolve the issue. I'm here to help.