Introduction
This is very important, so start taking notes on this post! “But Jose, we do not have anything to write on! Do we need pencils?” Absolutely not! You came to the right place! This post will tell you about built-in apps to take notes on a PC or smartphone! Did you know that all major operating systems have apps like that? You do not need to download or buy word processing apps to do this, especially if it is just scratch notes, such as phone numbers, or lecture notes. Below, you will find how to launch all these and get up and running!
Before We Begin
Note that these apps were designed for BASIC editing. Which means, if you are aiming to making a research paper, these apps will NOT do the job. These built-in apps are designed to do basic note taking. Whether it is lecture notes, taking down phone numbers, or even writing a journal entry about how the boyfriend/girlfriend broke up with you, and how he is/she is an awful human being and how you were too good for them, these apps will do the job. To figure out if the file will open in a notes app, most plain text files have a “.TXT” format. This basically means, plain text. If you see those three letters, they will open in many of the built-in apps. With that disclaimer out of the way, let’s get to the opening of these apps!
Notepad for Windows
Notepad will allow you to create very basic text documents. You can adjust the text font, but that is pretty much it. There are a couple of ways to launch this application from anywhere. You can either: Type in (Notepad) from the start menu on your Windows machine, or you can do a couple of keyboard commands. You can press “Windows+r” to open the “Run” Dialog, type in “Notepad,” and press “Enter.” You can also click “Run” with your mouse, and type the same thing. You can save the document in the usual way you would save a Word document.
Word Pad on Windows
If you need a little more formatting options like Bold, Italic, etcetera, but do not want complex formatting such as tables, or decorative text, you can use another built in app on windows called Word Pad. To launch it, you will do the same procedures as Notepad, but instead of searching for “Notepad,” you would type in “Word Pad.” In the “Run” Dialog, you can type in “Wordpad,” all one word, and press enter. That will launch the app, and you can begin typing. The files in this app will save as a Rich Text Format file, (.RTF) which then can be opened in word. To open a file in this format using word, you can either open it using Word itself, or, you can “Right Click” on the file in question, or press the “Applications” key on the keyboard, and find, “Open With.” In that submenu, locate “Word.” If Word is not an option, find “Choose a Program,” and locate Word there. From there, you can do more complex formatting, and save it as a regular word document, if you wish. It will NOT, replace the original Word Pad file if you choose to save it there.
Text Edit on Mac
You can use Text Edit to WRITE basic documents on a Mac without having the complex formatting features of Pages. You can search for Text Edit in the Applications folder, or search it using the Spotlight Search tool.
Notes app on Smartphones
Your smartphones also come equipped with notes apps. On many smartphones, the app is simply called “Notes.” On Samsung devices, the app is called “Samsung Notes.” All these apps will work almost the same. To locate this app, locate it on your home screen. Most of the time, it will take you to either a new note, or an existing one, depending on the last thing you did in the app. To make a new note, locate the “New Note” icon. You will then have a blank note and can type. Once finished, tap the “Done” button. You can then rename the note or share it. On iOS devices, you can even lock the note with Touch/Face ID or a password. To do this, locate the “Share” button, and locate, “Lock Note.” Follow the prompts, and you will have a secured note. Just make sure it is not a password, because in that case, if at any time the iCloud servers get attacked, those notes will be seen and can risk your privacy, since you must be signed into the iCloud part of your account to properly lock the notes. I don’t think hackers want to hear about your significant others’ flaws, either, so use precaution.
Final Notes
As you can see, you do not need to download advanced word processing apps to take simple notes. These apps are simple to use, and they are designed for this purpose. You can then transfer them to word or Pages and format them there if you must. We hope these apps call out your inner-creativity! Happy note taking!