Problem auto-typing into Notepad??

[rjbull]

I'm running Windows 11 Pro 23H2 (and trying to avoid bug-riddled 24H2).  It has Windows Notepad 11.2410.21.0.  I was trying out a macro in AlomWare Toolbox that was supposed to type text into Notepad but no other program.  The text kept hanging.  I could make it type a bit more by pressing some other key, but it rarely if ever wanted to type the entire text, and if it did, it was so slow you'd have given up on it.  After some to and fro with Toolbox's author, I thought to try the same idea with Macro Express and with AutoHotKey.  I got the same sort of result.

Please, can anyone confirm this as a problem with their own system?  I.e., has Microsoft done something bad to Notepad, of all things?

[Ath]

has Microsoft done something bad to Notepad, of all things?

Well, starting with Windows 11 they for sure broke Windows Explorer, so why not notepad...

AFAICS, they let some new interns, probably all younger than Windows 7, rewrite both Explorer and Notepad, and dumped the first alpha on the general public. NB: I've refrained from using Notepad for many years, as it's totally useless compared to any alternative available.

[rjbull]

I did a quick web search on "windows 11 notepad problems," and found lots of hits, though I couldn't see a mention of this problem in the first couple of pages.

I contacted the authors of both AlomWare Toolbox and Macro Express.  They both confirmed my finding, and separately came up with the same fix, paste through the clipboard rather than type keystrokes.  That does work for me.

I don't use Notepad much either, but it's important because it ships with all versions of Windows and is consequently sometimes used as an testbed/example by software authors (that's how I tripped over the bug).  This episode confirms my opinion that anything third-party is better than the Microsoft equivalent... yes, I know I should really be using Linux 

It's possible to revert to older versions of Notepad, that work normally, see e.g. How to Restore Old Legacy Notepad in Windows 11.  But why would you want to, when there are plenty of vastly better tools out there, including many free ones.  Besides, your preference might just get steamrollered on the next compulsory Windows update.

[Winkie]

...and with AutoHotKey.

See AutoHotkey Forum post here. SendEvent seems to work.

[ramiroelliot]

See AutoHotkey Forum post here. SendEvent seems to work.

I tried but it didn't solve the problem.

[Giampy]

I can't help, but i remember that Notepad was buggy even in Windows XP. It's an old matter.

[samsuls]

I did a quick web search on "windows 11 notepad problems," and found lots of hits, though I couldn't see a mention of this problem in the first couple of pages.

I contacted the authors of both AlomWare Toolbox and Macro Express.  They both confirmed my finding, and separately came up with the same fix, paste through the clipboard rather than type keystrokes.  That does work for me.

I don't use Notepad much either, but it's important because it ships with all versions of Windows and is consequently sometimes used as an testbed/example by software authors (that's how I tripped over the bug).  This episode confirms my opinion that anything third-party is better than the Microsoft equivalent... yes, I know I should really be using Linux 

It's possible to revert to older versions of Notepad, that work normally, see e.g. How to Restore Old Legacy Notepad in Windows 11.  But why would you want to, when there are plenty of vastly better tools out there, including many free ones.  Besides, your preference might just get steamrollered on the next compulsory Windows update.

I didn’t realize clipboard pasting was the workaround, makes sense now why some macros fail in Notepad. Totally agree on using better third-party editors; Notepad++ has been my go-to for years.

[MarySmith]

Run, notepad.exe
WinWaitActive, ahk_exe notepad.exe
Send, Hello, this is auto-typed text!

[Stoic Joker]

It's possible to revert to older versions of Notepad, that work normally, see e.g. How to Restore Old Legacy Notepad in Windows 11.  But why would you want to, when there are plenty of vastly better tools out there, including many free ones.  Besides, your preference might just get steamrollered on the next compulsory Windows update.

Now there's a handy tip I hadn't thought to need yet. I use NotePad extensively and have for years. It a great Living-Off-The-Land tool for peaking at suspicious files due to its complete lack of any rendering or execution ability. Or for just smuggling script onto a remote system if/when needed. Since I'm finding more and more - basically mandatory - uses for PowerShell these days for admin stuff.