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Change default font size in NotePad?

How can I change from the default font size in NotePad to a size like 12 point? I have searched for this answer with no success, though I did read your note about changing WordPad's typeface size preferences. I use NotePad quite a lot and even when I manually change the font size it invariably switches back to 10 point.

Dave's Answer:

Notepad doesn't give you any way, through their menus, to have personal preferences. However, you can still change these if you don't mind having to dig into your system and do a little re-wiring of notepad. Here's how to do it in a Windows system.

From within your Notepad program, choose File | Open. You should be looking for files of type "All" (not just text files).

Browse to your System32 folder, in your WINDOWS folder at the root. Often that means C:\Windows\System32.

In your system 32 folder, find the "NOTEPAD.INI" file and open it.

INI stands for "INItial variables file". INI files are used to store default parameters including personal preferences for software programs. Since you want to change a personal default setting, this is where to do it. You might want to save a copy of your untouched INI somewhere else as a backup (good working practice when jimmying with the works of a program).

You should see a very small file with no or only a few lines of text. Do not delete whatever lines are already there. The contents of an INI file will vary, so yours will be different from the below picture, but the idea's the same.

Add a line to the file that sets your font size to 12 as shown below:

Now save and close your "Notepad.INI" file. Close and reopen the Notepad program, and your personal preferences should have taken effect. Windows Notepad with fontsize 12 default

Windows Notepad with fontsize 12 default

Altering an INI file can be used to change any number of settings (on any number of programs) as long as the correct text is used when adding a new line of code to the INI file. A word or warning, though. While it can be very nice to customize your programs in ways that are not allowed through the standard menus, ocassionally this will affect the operation of the program in a way that you did not expect (think unusable). To prepare for this, remember to save your own unchanged INI file in a backup in case something goes horribly wrong. Happy customizing!

Many thanks to Desi of Words In A Row for help with this question.

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Comments

Thanks! That's a great hint, and a great help since I use Notepad almost daily for quick note taking.

Besides being able to change the font size, there must be other defaults that can be changed in the INI file. Is there a list online that shows the modifiable defaults for Notepad? How about for other similar applications?

Posted by: tempusmaster at December 27, 2005 7:27 PM

Hey Dave,

You should probably remind folks to backup the NOTEPAD.INI file before they make any changes. Then, if they accidentally delete needed config options, they can revert back to a known good configuration.

Posted by: Dan Moore at January 14, 2006 8:03 PM

Or an easier way is to select "Format" > "Font" on the menu!

Posted by: DavidF at September 1, 2006 10:53 AM

You neglected to say what version of Windows this tip is for. I am forced to use 98SE because there is no working LAN driver for XP for the lan built in to my quite common VIG400 motherboard. So I guess I will assume that you are speaking about XP sunce 98SE has no notepad.ini file and keeps its system files in a subdir named system, not system32.

Posted by: John at December 3, 2006 11:40 AM

Hi,

And WinME has no Notepad.ini file either so I think we can safely assume, based on John's comment above, that this tip (vis-a-vis Notepad) does not apply to Win98 or WinME. The font for Notepad in WinME is easily set for user's choice.

But I got here via the more interesting article on obliging WordPad to always open with my choice of font. That didn't work either which means - I don't know what!

And I am still awaiting e-mail confirmation re my subscription to the Newsletter!

The above aside I find your site most interesting.

Cheers.

Ben.

Posted by: Ben B at December 14, 2006 8:34 AM

I am running Windows XP Professional and I only have the notepad.exe file. I also have 2 other systems that are running XP Pro and they also have only the notepad.exe file. Also when I go into format of an open notepad window and set the font it will remain that way until I change it again at a later date. From the view of the files in your example window, it looks at though that person is using something other than the origional notepad as there are backups of another version that contain a .ms extension.

Posted by: Logan E. Wing, III at December 31, 2006 8:54 PM

WHY NOT JUST USE NOTEPADS MENU: FORMAT AND CHECK THE FONT YOU WANT? THEN AVE IT ND IT WILL REMAIN THE WAY YOU SAVED IT UNTIL YOU CHANGE IT AGAIN.
WHY GET INVOLVED WITH THE NOTEPAD.INI FOR YOUR SIMPLE QUESTION?

Posted by: MILES STONE at January 20, 2007 5:48 PM

i m work on wordpad "windows98" but its default font size 12 & I would like to change it 8
how could i do this? pls help me

shailesh

Posted by: shailesh at March 2, 2007 12:05 AM

MY SCREEN IS COMPLETELY FILLED WITH PICASA NOTE PAD INI SHORTCUTS ICANNOT DELETE THEM--SO FAR,IT SAYS 800 COPIES HAVE BEEN MADE--ANY IDEAS ON HOW TO STOP IT. THANKS JIM TALLAHASSEE FL

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