Microsoft has completely killed off WordPad in Windows 11... and more apps will follow

It is a few months since Microsoft announced plans to ditch WordPad. Back in September the company revealed that the cut-down word processor would no longer be updated and would be removed from the operating system completely in a future release.

This day has now arrived, with Microsoft chopping WordPad from the latest Canary build of Windows 11. And the removal is irreversible -- the company stresses that "WordPad will not be reinstallable".

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For the time being, the obliteration of WordPad only applies to Windows Insiders on the Canary channel who perform clean installations of Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26020, but this will expand to more people in due course -- and, ultimately, everyone.

In the release notes for this insider build, Microsoft says:

Starting with this build, the WordPad and People apps will no longer be installed after doing a clean install of the OS. In a future flight, WordPad will be removed on upgrade. WordPad will not be reinstallable. WordPad is a deprecated Windows feature.

There is more information on the future of the People app available here.

Microsoft also shares details about the future of the Steps Recorder app. It says: "[It] will not receive further updates and is planned for removal in a future Windows release. Starting in this build, Steps Recorder (PSR.exe) will display a new banner notification to guide users towards alternative options. We encourage our users to explore other options in Windows 11 such as Snipping tool, Xbox Game bar or Microsoft Clipchamp".

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