Microsoft packs AI into Paint, Notepad, and Snipping Tool

Microsoft is officially bringing AI inside the three apps you probably open without even thinking about it.

In a new update rolling out to Windows Insiders, the company refreshed MS Paint, Snipping Tool, and Notepad with a wave of generative AI capabilities. From smart screenshots to on-canvas text generation, Windows inbox utilities are getting a modern face-lift.

Smarter canvas and pixel-perfect crops

Paint is getting two major additions powered by AI. The first is a sticker generator, which lets you type in a quick prompt like "a cat wearing sunglasses" inside the Copilot menu to produce custom stickers you can drop right onto the canvas or paste elsewhere.

There is also a new object select tool that uses AI to pinpoint and isolate individual elements in an image with a single click, saving you from tedious manual lassoing.

Snipping Tool is introducing Perfect screenshot. Instead of nudging edges by hand after taking a crop, you can hold Ctrl or tap the toolbar icon to let AI automatically snap the selection to the exact borders of the content on your screen.

Snipping Tool also added a built-in color picker supporting HEX, RGB, and HSL codes with cursor zoom. Unlike the AI cropping, this works on any PC.

Notepad writes drafts, but it costs credits

Notepad is jumping into generative AI with a new feature called Write. By hitting Ctrl + Q or right-clicking, you can give the app a prompt, and it will generate text straight onto the screen.

You can keep refining the text with follow-up instructions or discard it entirely. If you want Notepad to stay minimal, Microsoft added a toggle in settings to turn off AI features completely.

There is a catch to the rollouts. Paint's new tools and Snipping Tool's perfect crop strictly require a Copilot+ PC. Meanwhile, Notepad's Write feature requires a Microsoft account and consumes monthly AI credits from Microsoft 365 or Copilot Pro plans.

Why it matters

We think Microsoft's strategy here is clever: instead of trying to convince people to install standalone AI tools, it is sneaking AI into the native apps people already use dozens of times a day. Auto-snapping a screenshot or sampling a color right from the built-in snipping utility eliminates the need for third-party utilities.

However, gating features like edge-snapping behind Copilot+ PCs feels aggressive. It looks like an artificial incentive designed to move NPU hardware, rather than a technical limitation.

Notepad burning paid AI credits also raises eyebrows. People rely on Notepad because it is lightning fast and distraction-free. Adding credit-metered AI generation might alienate purists, even if it introduces casual writers to prompt-based drafting.