As we covered recently, starting with Windows 10 Creators Update, Microsoft has ditched the good old Paint app and replaced it with a new Modern app, "Paint 3D". Many people are not happy with this change because the old mspaint.exe loaded faster, was more usable for mouse/keyboard users and allowed the user to quickly paste an image, crop it and save it. If you would like to get the classic MS Paint app back in Windows 10, it is possible. In this article, you can learn how to get the Classic Paint back in Windows 10 (the Windows 8/Windows 7 Paint app).
To get the classic win32 Paint app with the Windows 8/Windows 7 user interface in Windows 10, you can use at least three methods. Method 1 and method 2 can stop working at any moment, method 3 is a permanent solution which can survive build upgrades. Let's look at them.
Here we go.
- Method 1. Uninstall the Paint 3D app to restore the classic app
- Method 2. Apply a Registry tweak to restore the classic Paint app
- Method 3. Download the setup program for Classic Paint for Windows 10
Method 1. Just uninstall the Paint 3D app
As our reader "Jakub H." suggested, you can just remove the Paint 3D Preview app. This will restore the classic Paint app. Unfortunately, this method will stop working in Windows 10 Creators Update RTM, once it will be released in 2017.
As of this writing, the most recent Windows 10 "Creators Update" version is build 14971. It allows you to remove Paint 3D. Do the following to restore the classic Paint app:
- Open Settings.
- Go to System - Apps & features.
- Select the Paint 3D app in the list and click "Uninstall".
This will restore the classic Paint app, at least in Windows 10 build 14971.
Method 2. Apply a Registry tweak to restore the classic Paint app
You can restore classic Paint in Windows 10 Creators Update using a simple Registry tweak. Do the following.
- Open Registry Editor.
- Go to the following Registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Paint\Settings
Tip: You can access any desired Registry key with one click. If this key doesn't exist, just create it.
- Create a 32-bit DWORD parameter named DisableModernPaintBootstrap. Set its value data to 1.
This will disable the Paint 3D launcher and restore the classic Paint app.
Use the provided Registry files to save your time:
Again, this method will stop working later with Windows 10 Creators Update release.
Method 3. Download the setup program for Classic Paint for Windows 10
- Download the setup program for Classic Paint for Windows 10 from here:
- Run the installer. It will look like this:
- Follow its steps. After it finishes, you will find the good old Paint app's shortcut in the Start menu:
- After you launch it, you will get the familiar application:
You are done. The Paint app will be revived completely, e.g. you will be able to launch it as "mspaint.exe" from the Run dialog or from the taskbar search box or from Cortana. It will have the same user interface language as your operating system.
I made it possible for the Paint app to "survive" after sfc /scannow, Windows Update and so on. No system files will be replaced.
If you decide to revert to the Modern Paint 3D app, just uninstall Classic Paint from the Settings app\Uninstall a program as shown in the following screenshot:
The package supports the following locales:
That's it!
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Thank you very much Sergey!
Uninstalled Paint 3D.
I hppe Microsoft adds a feature that will let users change the color for UWP apps like changing the Settings app background to a custom color instead of choosing light or dark.
Most of built-in Modern apps follow the Settings app theme.
me too. but i’d think it would only be in the fall creators update.
I still don’t know why stupid people are using Windows 10 and then making such hacks. Just use Windows 7 or 8.1 with Classic Shell.
Exactly, I strongly recommended my friends and familyto stay away from Windows 10 and stick to older version of Windows and hopefully the market-share of Windows 10 will stay in 2x% forever and force Microsoft to realize their mistakes!
Because sometimes it’s forced upon them, such as at work where some companies will require all machines to be running Windows 10, while others are sticking to Win7 instead.
Such hacks unfortunately become mandatory for the former.
I have been long term user of picpick (http://ngwin.com/picpick/download) and paint.net, so I may get over with it, but still I like to have it’s exe being available to me for my portable software suit.
I looked into image hijacks section of autoruns and found paint 3D isn’t hijacking it actually. But running paint.exe from windows folder opens paint 3D, can anyone explain this to me?
The launcher code is built-in right in the mspaint.exe
It launches the Paint 3D app itself.
That’s it.
Let’s see who is next?
[*] calculator
[*] paint
[ ] File explorer
[ ] wordpad
[ ] notepad
[ ] internet explorer
File Explorer -> Universal File Explorer in Windows 10
Internet Explorer -> Edge
Notepad and Wordpad are the next.
After that then Windows is just another toy OS like Android and iOS, but WITHOUT ecosystem! We need another productive OS for mouse and keyboard users for replacement as soon as possible!
Linux.
So:
[*] Calculator
[*] Paint
[*] File Explorer
[ ] Wordpad
[ ] Notepad
[*] Internet Explorer
I understand them adding a new Paint 3D app, but I never got why remove access to the old one. Oh well, I wish the Linux subsystem was available in Windows 8.1 (it has Hyper-V, and the new task manager which I use a lot as well), I would just use that instead of this toy OS…
They remove the old one because they are currently aggressive to promote the UWP and wish they can build up an ecosystem to compete with Android and iOS, but sadly it seems there won’t have space anymore for a third ecosystem. As a long time Windows user, I wish they will not too late to realize that and return to the right path.
I feel like that’s the problem, I’m no marketing expert but instead of trying to go up against the competition, it would probably be better in this case to work around the competition instead.
Everyone’s trying to mimic the appearance of their software on these flat designs with less and less features, instead make your own distinctive style so it sticks in people’s heads.
Nintendo would definitely not be with us today if they decided to get into games and consoles by taking on the heavyweights like Sony and Microsoft.
Paint is still perfectly accessible to me by clicking on ‘START > MENU > Windows Accessories > Paint’. The truly old school version is what’s non-existent (the look of Paint from 98 or XP) but they’ve been gone a fair while.
After the recent update, the first thing I noticed that had changed was the Control Panel option, from the right-click menu on the start button. It’s still accessible from ‘START>MENU>Windows System’ or via Run, but it’s surely to be completely removed. All options will be incorporated into ‘Settings’ from the metro gui. Having two control panels in 10 showed how much of a mess it really is at present (the standard one, and the new ‘Settings’ option from the metro menu, give access to some of the same identical options).
Give it three more years and you’ll effectively have a desktop version of Windows that looks like.. Android.
Easy to use, polished with that glossy look for the masses, but no doubt a letdown for the computer fans that want their computer to look like something more traditional :)
I use Gimp portable when I’ve no access to Photoshop but for very quick editing I also like to use Pixlr.
As Scott mentioned briefly, normal Paint is still accesible. It still appears on my start menu and when I type for it on the search, and this was after installing Creators Update.
If it wasn’t because I saw the “Enable Classic Paint” option on the Winaero Tweaker program, I would’ve never knew that Microsoft was “removing it”
I really, really despise the direction SatNad is taking Microsoft. Shameless data mining (he was a cloud guy before becoming CEO) and butchering the good old desktop paradigm.
Just because Windows phones have utterly failed to compete with Android and iPhones, doesn’t mean you have to drag the Windows desktop to the rubbish touch-centric dystopia.
Just because Windows PCs failed to sell as much as during the good old days (more like the PC has become yet another household appliance such as the toaster or oven or fridge), doesn’t mean that they will sell once you incorporate touch-centric features into them.
Don’t forget how Windows 10 had butchered the classic bundled games such as Minesweeper, MS Hearts Solitaire. Oh, you have to buy an ad-ridden imitation of the classics from the Microsoft app store, eh? That means you have to sign up for a Microsoft account. No thank you.
https://winaero.com/blog/windows-7-games-for-windows-10-anniversary-update-and-above/
The fact is: Microsoft had already’butchered’ the games during the transition from XP to Vista. The games were outsourced and developed by Oberon Games with a revamped look. If you want the classic bundled Windows games, you’ll have to copy over files from an installation of WinXP.
Last rant: after so many years, Microsoft still can’t create a no-nonsense functional file explorer similar to Total Commander by Ghisler. Two panes side by side, with FTP feature (not Onecloud crap)
https://www.ghisler.com/screenshots/en/
My rant echos yours. I don’t need a phone on my desk. I need a computer. Sorry, I’m not writing a 500 or 1000 page paper on a touch screen. Not happening. There is not enough alcohol in this world for that.
I wish those who “improve” all of the toys within Windows and Office actually USED them. The linking features in Word are great..but if you actually use them, the document will crash. Actually it’s a good day when it crashes; on a bad day it random changes links for no apparent reason. Numbering an outline was simple until it was made better. I really need Paint to just change the color of a couple hundred pixels. Nothing more. It would be great if I could re-open the graphic when I’m done.
I put Paint Classic on my Windows 10 PC by our Method 3-Download the setup program for Classic Paint for Windows 10. I was pleased to get the ability to change my photos back, and proceeded to do some of my graphics/photos and saved them as jpegs in the particular Pictures File in my Documents area.
But when I went to download them into my social network, or on a document, as soon as I went to save the document or post the photo on my Social Networks — the picture disappeared from the final save. And on top of that, when I clicked on any picture in my Picture Files in my documents now, they all come up in a Paint “frame” for working on the picture. I have tried a few different things, but nothing works to get the Paint “Work-Frame” off of every one of my pictures now. And I even noticed that I could not “copy image” from some article online and paste it into a document I was working on–the picture would not come up in my document.
What is causing this and how does one remedy it?
Thank you for your help.
This is more applicable to windows 11 than 10; because 10 kept the classic paint AFAIK, but in 11, it’s replaced by the new Microsoft Paint (not Paint3D). Maybe market it to Windows 11 users, because they don’t have the classic paint anymore. This tweak was ahead of its time.