Notepad's Hidden Gem

Most people think of Notepad as just a simple text editor. You open it, type your notes, and close it. Nothing fancy, right?

Well... Windows 11 quietly changed that.

Microsoft recently added a small but powerful feature to Notepad: file encryption with the :secret suffix.

How it works

The feature leverages Windows built-in Data Protection API (DPAPI) under the hood. You don't need to configure anything or deal with certificates, keys or passwords. It's fully integrated with your Windows user account.

All you have to do is open your Notepad from the command line or PowerShell like this:

notepad.exe MyNotes.txt:secret

What happens behind the scenes?

• When you save the file, the content gets encrypted.

• Only your Windows user account can open and read it.

• Even if someone copies the file, they won't be able to decrypt it without your user context.

• The file stays protected even across reboots.

  
  

In other words: lightweight file encryption, natively built into Notepad.

A few limitations to be aware of:

• It only works on NTFS file systems.

• It's tied to your Windows account (can’t be shared across users without exporting credentials).

• Notepad will display a small lock icon when you open an encrypted file.

Why should you care?

If you're like most of us who constantly save personal notes, API keys, credentials or even sensitive to-do lists in Notepad, this gives you an extra security layer for free — no external apps, no plugins, no third-party tools.