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Microsoft Paint now lets users generate colouring pages with simple prompts

The company adds AI text streaming, Markdown upgrades, and a colouring book generator to its oldest apps

3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Jan 28, 2026 09:09 AM IST

Beyond AI image generation, Paint is also gaining a more practical improvement. A new fill tolerance slider gives users finer control over how the Fill tool works. (Image: Microsoft)

Microsoft is beginning to roll out a fresh set of updates to two of the most familiar apps on Windows, Paint and Notepad, giving them artificial intelligence features that mark a noticeable shift from their traditionally simple roles. These updates are currently available to Windows Insiders using Windows 11 in the Canary and Dev channels.

Paint is receiving one of the more eye-catching upgrades. A new feature called ‘colouring book’ allows users to generate black-and-white colouring pages using simple text prompts. Available in Paint version 11.2512.191.0, the feature can be accessed through the Copilot menu.

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Users just need to describe what they want, such as a playful animal, a scenic view, or a cartoon-style object, and the app produces four different outline-style images. These can be added directly to the canvas, where users can colour them digitally or even print them out for traditional colouring with pencils or crayons.

Beyond AI image generation, Paint is also gaining a more practical improvement. A new fill tolerance slider gives users finer control over how the Fill tool works, making it easier to colour areas without unwanted spillover. Unlike the Colouring book feature, this will not be limited to the Copilot hardware and will be released more widely.

Notepad upgrade

Another classic Windows app, Notepad, is also getting a modern refresh. The new version, 11.2512.10.0, brings more fluid AI-powered text features, including Write, Rewrite, and Summarise. With this update, the AI-generated text will be generated incrementally, so users can view the output as it is generated rather than waiting for the final output. This should make text editing and optimisation feel more dynamic and fast-paced.

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The Notepad update also includes a new welcome screen layout that summarises what the app can do, making it easier for new users to get started. Microsoft has also improved Notepad’s Markdown functionality, adding new features such as strikethrough and nested lists, which will be a big plus for users who currently use the app for text formatting.

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