How to make single line & paragraph spacing the Wordpad default

Can that be done? Since it's a setting, there must be registry entries for the defaults, right?

The problem with WordPad [and Write from Win3.xx/earlier] is it is a very basic word processor and has few things one can change and retain. Creating the blank document as suggested is the best way but not for computers used by 2 or more people since it is a customizable file. Or get one of the free office suites such as LibreOffice, do a Custom install of only that which one needs.

Historical note: Write is still a command/executable in Win10 and opens WordPad.

That was extremely helpful! Both the soft return tip and the unformatted document default. Bizarre that you can't make it stick with RTF. Would the "txt + MS-dos formatting?" option be any better?

Thank you!

WOT said:

This worked for me:
https://windowsforum.com/threads/how...4/#post-614120

Hope it helps and works for you as well.

regards,

WOT

The problem with installing another program is installing another program. I try to avoid that where possible. I do have more sophisticated word processors for other purposes.

And the odd thing isn't that wordpad doesn't retain settings (although that's odd, they're pretty basic settings), but that it retains them for an unformatted text but won't for an rtf text, even with the same "remember settings" box ticked. Anyway, not the end of the world. Thanks, all!

Interesting that the write cmd is still there - but it doesn't appear to open wordpad in a way that helps, does it?

Berton said:

The problem with WordPad [and Write from Win3.xx/earlier] is it is a very basic word processor and has few things one can change and retain. Creating the blank document as suggested is the best way but not for computers used by 2 or more people since it is a customizable file. Or get one of the free office suites such as LibreOffice, do a Custom install of only that which one needs.

Historical note: Write is still a command/executable in Win10 and opens WordPad.

Wombat Pete said:

And the odd thing isn't that wordpad doesn't retain settings (although that's odd, they're pretty basic settings), but that it retains them for an unformatted text but won't for an rtf text, even with the same "remember settings" box ticked.

Interesting that the write cmd is still there - but it doesn't appear to open wordpad in a way that helps, does it?

It's really not too odd, it's Microsoft's way of providing some usefulness but also a free way of directing one to get Word or Office which does cost money but gives lots features.

Microsoft also made Works available cheaply to OEMs for inclusion on computers. It was a 'lite' version of Microsoft Office but there were issues with file formats between Office and Works. They also had Works Suite which replaced the word processor portion with a version of Word, sometimes a slightly older version. That was useful for folks who took work home but couldn't use Works with it, also helped it prodding them into Office.

Write simply opens WordPad in its default condition.

Open Custom RTF Template File with Wordpad
I created a WordPadTemplate so I could execute Wordpad with a custom RTF file.
Use the following procedure to open a template RTF file with WordPad:
1. Create a RTF template
a. Open a WordPad document
b. Type a SPACE with the space bar. Click Ctrl+A to select the space. (Note: If there is no "space" to select, your changes to the document customized settings will not persist).
c. Make all desired changes to font, paragraph spacing, line spacing, tabs, etc.
d. Save the custom RTF file (I saved mine as WordPadTemplate.rtf).
e. Set the new RTF file to read-only.
2. Create a BATCH file that contains the following command:
start wordpad.exe wordpadtemplate.rtf
NOTE: The Start command prevents the command prompt from displaying.
3. Save this batch file as a .BAT file (I named mine WordPadTemplate.bat) in the same folder as the above .RTF template file.
4. Place the new RTF template file (WordPadTemplate.rtf) and the .BAT file (wordpadtemplate.bat) in the same folder. I placed both files in C:\Windows.
5. You can now send this .BAT file to the desktop to create an icon that will automatically open the RTF template file in WordPad.
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Convert BAT file to EXE file
Wordpadtemplate.bat can be converted to a wordpadtemplate.exe file so it can be executed from the taskbar. You can Pin an exe to the taskbar by right-clicking the exe file and selecting "Pin to taskbar" or "Pin to start". You cannot pin a BATCH file to the taskbar or start in this manner. If you use an .exe file - the .rtf and .bat file must also be copied to the same folder. In addition, exclude the exe file in your antivirus in case it is detected as malware. Running the exe file executes Wordpad with the custom wordpadtemplate.rtf file.