A rumor of Notepad for Windows 11 now requiring Microsoft Account sign-in has spread like wildfire, but all is not as it seems.

M icrosoft's Notepad has been around for over four decades. The simple text editor has remained largely unchanged for much of that time, though it has seen a surge in development

Notepad won't require a Microsoft account to use, despite the initial impression. The sign-in prompt is actually for Copilot, not Notepad itself. Impending worry about future app requirements following this trend.