Microsoft dropped a trio of updates for its classic Windows 11 inbox apps this week, giving Insiders in the Dev and Canary channels a first look at the most significant Paint upgrade in years: the ability to save layered compositions as editable project files. The same flight also brings an in-capture annotation flow to the Snipping Tool and on-device AI writing assistance to Notepad on Copilot+ PCs.

What changed in Paint, Snipping Tool, and Notepad

The updates, rolled out to Windows Insiders in late September 2025, touch three apps that come preinstalled on most Windows 11 PCs. Here are the specifics:

Paint (version 11.2508.361.0 or later)
- Project files with a .paint extension: You can now save your work in a multi-layered, editable format that preserves everything — separate layers, their order, and the state of your canvas — so you can close and reopen without losing progress.
- Per-tool opacity slider: The pencil and brush tools now have an opacity control right on the canvas, letting you paint semi-transparent strokes without adjusting layer settings.

Snipping Tool (version 11.2508.24.0 or later)
- Quick Markup: A new toolbar appears immediately after you capture a screenshot, offering pens, highlighters, shapes, emojis, and a re-crop grip. You can annotate before saving, turning a multi-step process into a single flow. The shortcut Ctrl+E opens it directly from capture mode.
- Updated protocol launching: While not new in this flight, recent Snipping Tool builds have improved how developers and automated scripts can trigger captures, important for admins who integrate screenshots into workflows.

Notepad (version 11.2508.28.0 or later)
- Summarize, Write, and Rewrite: Three new buttons appear on the toolbar. Highlight text and Summarize creates a bulleted abridgment. Write generates new text from a prompt, and Rewrite rephrases existing copy for tone or brevity.
- Local AI on Copilot+ PCs: On certified devices with a neural processing unit (NPU), these features run entirely on-device — no internet required, no Microsoft 365 subscription needed. For other PCs, the features still work but rely on cloud models and may require sign-in. Currently English-only.

Each app’s version is tagged to the Insider build; a wider rollout to the Beta and stable channels is expected after testing.

What the updates mean for you

For home users and students

Paint’s project files solve a pain point that anyone who doodles or creates simple graphics has faced: you built something with layers, then had to save as a flat PNG or JPEG and lost all editability. Now you can keep a master .paint file for in-progress work and export a final image when you're done. The opacity slider makes shading and blending far easier — techniques previously only practical in paid apps like Photoshop or Affinity. It’s a significant step for a free tool.

The Snipping Tool’s Quick Markup is a time-saver. Instead of capturing, opening in another app, annotating, then saving, you do it all in one go. This is ideal for quick feedback on a design, sending a marked-up error message to IT, or creating a simple how-to picture.

Notepad’s AI features turn the humble text editor into a productivity assistant. Write a rough idea and let Rewrite polish it; paste meeting notes and Summarize distills the key points. But there’s a catch: local AI requires a Copilot+ PC, and cloud AI may need a subscription. If you're on an older device, you'll either use cloud models (with privacy implications) or not see the feature at all.

For IT administrators and enterprise

This bundle introduces several points you need to address before rolling out widely.

  • The .paint file format has no published specification. Until Microsoft documents it, treat .paint as a proprietary container. If employees adopt it as a working format, your backup and archival policies must include the new extension. For compliance, exports to standard formats (PNG, JPEG) remain necessary. It also means that if a collaborator doesn’t have the latest Paint, they can’t open the file — a potential lock-in risk unless interoperability is eventually supported.

  • Notepad’s AI routing is two-tiered. On Copilot+ PCs, processing stays local, which is good for data sovereignty. On other PCs, text is sent to Microsoft’s cloud. You need to update acceptable-use policies to distinguish these flows and decide whether to block the feature on non‑Copilot+ hardware. Also, the lack of published details on the local model’s size, provenance, and accuracy makes it hard to sign off on for regulated environments. Test in a pilot group first.

  • Snipping Tool’s Quick Markup adds sharing and search hooks. The toolbar includes Share, Visual Search (Bing), and Ask Copilot. Using these might send the screenshot to Microsoft servers. If your organization restricts data exfiltration via screenshots, verify these behaviors and consider disabling them via policy if needed.

  • Device fragmentation: Feature availability depends on Insider channel enrollment and hardware (Copilot+ certification). In a mixed fleet, you’ll see inconsistent experiences, which complicates training and support. Maintain a small group of test devices on the Canary or Dev channel to evaluate these features before broader deployment.

For developers

The Snipping Tool’s protocol improvements are a nod to automation, but more interesting is the .paint format. If it turns out to be an open archive (like a ZIP containing standard image layers), third-party tools could support it quickly. However, Microsoft has not signaled that intention. Without a dev kit or public spec, you can’t build integrations. Keep an eye on the Windows Insiders blog for technical documentation.

How we got here

Microsoft’s strategy of evolving classic Windows apps is not new, but it accelerated after the Windows 11 launch. Paint received layers in 2023, then support for transparency and a dark mode. Notepad got tabs and a redesigned find-and-replace, then a trial of AI “Cocreator” in some regions. The Snipping Tool gained screen recording and text actions. These steps turned utilities that once felt frozen in time into living applications.

The September 2025 Insider flight marks a pivot: the features are more ambitious, and they tie into Microsoft’s hybrid AI architecture that debuted with Copilot+ PCs earlier this year. By placing AI workloads on the device where possible, Microsoft addresses latency, offline use, and privacy — while still offering cloud fallbacks. Paint’s project files and opacity controls don’t involve AI directly, but they make the app competitive with entry-level creativity suites, potentially hooking users into the Windows ecosystem from an earlier stage.

This flight also treads into territory previously reserved for paid software. Paint’s .paint project container and per‑tool opacity mirror fundamental Photoshop behaviors. The Snipping Tool’s Quick Markup mimics dedicated screenshot annotation tools like Snagit. Notepad’s on-device generative writing brings AI into the most basic text editing scenario. The bet is that by improving these free, built‑in tools, Microsoft can make Windows 11 stickier and showcase the value of Copilot+ hardware.

What to do now

If you’re a Windows Insider

  1. Enroll and update: Make sure your test PC is set to the Dev or Canary channel. Run Windows Update, then open the Microsoft Store and update the apps. Verify the version numbers listed above.
  2. Try Paint’s project files: Create a multi‑layer composition, save as .paint, close Paint, reopen the file, and confirm all layers are intact. Then export to PNG to check the final output.
  3. Master Quick Markup: Press Win+Shift+S to capture, then hit Ctrl+E to jump into annotation. Test all tools, especially the re‑crop and share buttons, to see how they behave with clipboard and autosave settings.
  4. Experiment with Notepad’s AI on a Copilot+ PC: If you have compatible hardware, open a lengthy text file, select a paragraph, and click Summarize. Try Write and Rewrite. Compare the results with what you’d get from a cloud‑based tool like ChatGPT. Send feedback via Feedback Hub (WIN+F) under Apps > Notepad.
  5. If you don’t have a Copilot+ PC: You can still access Notepad’s AI features, but they’ll use cloud models. You may need a Microsoft 365 subscription for higher‑quality results. Check the Notepad settings to confirm.

For enterprise IT

  • Deploy a pilot ring: Enroll a handful of Copilot+ and non‑Copilot+ devices in the Insider program and push the updated apps. Use this ring to test data egress during Snipping Tool’s Visual Search and Notepad’s cloud AI fallback. Network monitoring tools can trace where traffic goes.
  • Audit existing policies: Determine whether your security rules allow .paint files to be stored on network drives or SharePoint. Plan to add .paint to backup schedules. If you block unverified file types, assess whether .paint should be temporarily blocked until a specification is published.
  • Educate users: Create a brief internal document explaining the new features, the difference between local and cloud AI in Notepad, and why they shouldn’t use .paint as the only format for finished work intended for external sharing.

General advice for all Windows 11 users

  • For now, keep the Insider updates on secondary devices. The features are stable but not yet final; you might encounter bugs or changes in future flights.
  • If you don’t want to join the Insider program, wait. These updates will eventually reach the stable channel, likely within a few months, after Microsoft gathers feedback and refines the experience.

Outlook

The next milestones to watch:
- Documentation drop: Microsoft typically publishes support articles and developer docs closer to a stable release. A spec for the .paint format would clarify interoperability. A technical brief on the local model in Notepad would help enterprises validate accuracy and compliance.
- Language expansion: Notepad’s AI features are English-only today. Support for other languages is likely, but no timeline is mentioned.
- Policy controls: IT admins should watch for Group Policy or Intune settings that allow granular control over Notepad’s AI routing (force local, force cloud, disable) and Snipping Tool’s sharing options.
- Performance across hardware: Early adopters will benchmark the local AI’s speed and quality on various Copilot+ PCs. That data will determine whether the feature is truly viable on entry‑level devices.

Microsoft’s update to Paint, Snipping Tool, and Notepad shows a steady hand: the improvements feel useful without being overwhelming. Paint’s layered project files close a decade‑old feature gap; Snipping Tool’s Quick Markup removes friction from a daily task; and Notepad’s on-device AI hints at a future where even the simplest apps are intelligence‑infused. But the unknowns around file formats and model transparency mean that caution is still the watchword for anyone relying on these tools for critical work.