How To Create “.txt” File on Windows

You’ve perhaps been in a situation where you wanted to copy something on your computer or save a minor detail, and you needed somewhere to type and store it. Then you tried to open a Microsoft Word file but realized that it’s quite much for a set of numbers to save and also that it takes longer to load than a simple text file.

You might have decided to just put up with that because you didn’t know how to make a text file; that’s why we’re here. Today, in this article, we’ll teach you how to create a text file on your windows system.

What’s a Text File?

A text file is a file on which valuable and pertinent data that human beings can read is stored. A text file cannot be formatted with bold, italics, and font size. It’s completely plain without any form of editing or interference and has different formats.

Text files can also be defined as a rudimentary space where readable data can be written, deleted, copied, and pasted.

Creating Text Files on Windows

Text files can be used to good effect, but first, you must know how to make one. Creating text files on windows is a simple process that can be done in various ways on the recent Windows versions. Below are four methods to make a .txt or text file on your windows computer.

Method #1: Creating Text Files Using Notepad

The first and, arguably, most popular way people make text files on windows computers is through notepad software, and notepads are text editors within the OS. A notepad can only create and edit plain text files, which is what a text file is.

Below are the steps taken to create a .txt file on Windows through notepad:

1. Click Start.
2. Search for notepad and open it.
3. If you don’t wish to go through the search area, open All Programs, then Accessories, and lastly, Notepad.

Method #2: Saving as Text File

An alternative method is to create a .txt file through a word application such as Microsoft Word.

1. After writing what you’d like to on the file, use Ctrl+S to save the file.
2. On the section of what to name your file and the format, change the file extension to a .txt file for text document instead of a .docx file (in the case of Microsoft Word).

Method #3: Creating a .txt File Straight From the Desktop

This is the fastest way to create a text document, and it starts from your desktop.

The steps are straightforward:

1. Right-click on an empty space on the desktop.
2. When the menu pops up, click New and then Text Document.
3. A blank text document is opened for you to edit and save as you like.

Method #4: Creating a Text File From the Command Line

The command line, commonly called command prompt or cmd for short, is the standard interpretation service for commands in Windows and other devices. It performs the function of executing administrative orders that are input into it, mainly the advanced tasks. You could make a new text document in the current directory using the command prompt.

Step #1: Echo Command

The echo command is used in the cmd to make a new and empty text document in the current directory. You do this by inputting echo.>myfile.txt on the slot provided to type values (spaces are never used when the echo command is used). This generates a file named myfile.txt, If you wished for a different file name, you could use another name like personalnotes.txt.

Step #2: Start Command

The start command is an alternative for the echo command; in the current directory, you could generate a text file by typing start notepad myfile.txt. The difference here is that you’re using the start command instead of the echo command to start a file called myfile.txt. If the file name is already on your system, the start command opens that file, but if it’s not yet made, the start command creates a file with that name (unlike with echo command, the start command allows spaces).

Summary

In this article discussing how to create a .txt file on windows, we explained what a text document is and what distinguishes it from other word files. We also presented how you can create one from notepads to the command prompt.

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