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How to Open Notepad with Previous Session in Windows 11

Turn on Continue previous session under When Notepad starts in Notepad's Settings to reopen your last workspace in Windows 11.

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To have Notepad reopen your previous session in Windows 11, open Notepad’s own Settings and choose Continue previous session under When Notepad starts. That is a setting inside the Notepad app, not a Windows-wide option, and the exact label can differ between Notepad versions.

Set Notepad to continue your previous session

Notepad’s startup behavior is controlled from inside the app. Microsoft’s general Help in Notepad page explains how to launch the app, but it does not document the session-restoration setting, so the steps below rely on a Microsoft Q&A answer and an independent Windows Central guide.

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  1. Select Start, type Notepad, and select it from the results.
  2. In the Notepad window, select the gear-shaped Settings control.
  3. Find When Notepad starts and expand it if needed.
  4. Select Continue previous session.
  5. Close Notepad and open it again to confirm that your tabs return.

The accepted answer in the Microsoft Learn Q&A thread on Notepad shutting down describes this same path, and Windows Central’s feature roundup for Notepad on Windows 11 lists the same startup options. Because the Q&A answer comes from an independent advisor rather than a product specification, treat these steps as the usual path, not a guarantee.

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Choose between resuming and starting clean

The setting offers two startup outcomes. They behave differently, so pick the one that matches what you want to happen.

Option under When Notepad starts What happens on next launch Use it when
Continue previous session Notepad reopens the earlier workspace, including its tabs You want to pick up unfinished text where you left off
Start new session and discard unsaved changes Notepad opens a blank session and drops unsaved text from the previous one You want a clean window and do not need the earlier unsaved text

Choosing the clean-start option removes unsaved changes, so check for anything you still need before switching to it.

What a resumed session is and is not

A restored session is a convenience, not a backup. It keeps your workspace between launches, but it does not write your text to a file you can find later. Save anything important as a file with Ctrl+S so it survives a crash, an update, or a settings change.

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If the option is missing or labeled differently

The label and its location can vary with the installed Notepad version. If you do not see When Notepad starts or Continue previous session, first check the app version in Notepad’s Settings and make sure Notepad is updated through the Microsoft Store. The sources cited here do not establish a minimum Notepad or Windows 11 build that includes this setting, so there is no reliable version number to promise. Avoid registry edits or third-party tools as a workaround; they are not supported by the sources and are not needed for the built-in option.

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If the setting is absent on your device, the built-in Settings path is the only documented route, and the most useful next step is to save your open work as files before relying on a restored session.

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