[bentcorner]

I mean... I use notepad.

I frequently use it to clear the non-text formats from the clipboard so when I paste I actually get text. Some apps don't let you pick the paste format and try to be helpful with formatting. Most of the time I don't want that.

Win+R is useful for small snippets, but notepad is useful for multiline text.

But I don't pay attention to the asterisk, because I just use it as a scratchpad. When I need to restart for updates I inevitably have several Untitled notepads open that need to be manually closed out.

[Someone1234]

I do the same. People often reference CTRL+SHIFT+V without realizing that it isn't a Windows feature, the destination application needs to implement it (which several popular applications do, but not all).

Notepad is a great "scratchpad" application for clearing format/re-arranging data/fixing copy mistakes/etc. Plus leaving little short-duration notes to myself (with Sticky Notes for longer term reminders).

The fact it is a window-ed application on Windows is a major perk in 2021 when nearly no application behaves in a standard way anymore. That's why I use Notepad++ for different things than Notepad: It is more powerful, but takes longer to open, and has tabs which is a detriment for my usage of Notepad (I want fast taskbar switching) but a benefit for how I use Notepad++.

Notepad++ is great for Show Symbol -> Show All Characters, Encoding, and RegX/Extended Search&Replace in particular. Regular Notepad as a glorified clipboard helper.

[4gotunameagain]

I do not like to leave inane comments, but I feel the need to share that I somehow feel a bond with you, a total stranger online, just because we share identical practices in a very specific (generally speaking) problem. Isn't that strange.

[pbhjpbhj]

I use Notepad in the same way, every day over the last year or so (and ongoing). It did take a couple of months to find that non-breaking hyphens get eaten by Notepad.

https://microsoft.public.word.formatting.longdocs.narkive.co...

[joelvalleroy]

The URL bar is useful for that too (before pasting into a webpage text box) :)