Microsoft Introduces ‘Edit’: A Lightweight Native Command-Line Text Editor for Windows

At Build 2025, Microsoft unveiled ‘Edit’, a new open-source command-line text editor designed specifically for Windows users. The tool addresses a long-standing gap in Windows: the lack of a default 64-bit command-line text editor since the retirement of the MS-DOS Edit utility. Unlike traditional modal editors such as Vim, Edit uses a modeless interface to be more intuitive for users unfamiliar with keyboard-centric workflows. Microsoft evaluated other lightweight editors like Nano, Micro, and Kilo, but determined that most either lacked proper Windows support, were too large to bundle natively, or didn’t meet Unicode and VT output compatibility requirements. Ultimately, the company opted to build its own tool in Rust. Edit includes support for mouse input, multiple file tabs, regex-based find and replace, word wrapping, and a modern interface influenced by Visual Studio Code. However, it currently lacks a right-click context menu. Weighing under 250KB, Edit is intended for quick, straightforward text edits within a native Windows environment—particularly for developers who don’t want to rely on third-party tools or WSL setups. The source code is released under the MIT license, and while not yet included in stable Windows 11 builds, it is available for download via GitHub.