Win11 Notepad bug: Cause and solution for half-width underlines not appearing

We received an inquiry from a user about a bug in Notepad where the half-width underline "_" was not displayed, so we actually tested it, reproduced the problem, and identified the cause.

The version of Windows Notepad I use is "11.2311.35.0", and the user is also using the same version.

Reasons why half-width underlines are not displayed in Notepad and how to fix it

We were able to reproduce the problem and identify the cause, but we found a clue in the user's inquiry.

Inquiries from users (excerpts):
The default font size is 11, but when I changed it to 12 it was displayed.
I have a 15.6-inch gaming laptop, so that may have something to do with it.

In my environment, the underline was displayed without any problems even when the font size was set to "11," but the "laptop PC" mentioned in the user's inquiry gave me a clue.

I thought that if there were any differences in display between my laptop and desktop PCs, they would be in the "scaling and layout," so I tried changing the "scaling" on my desktop PC.

Then, when "Zoom" was set to 125%, the half-width underlines in Notepad no longer appeared.

ms-settings:display-advanced

Here is the result of changing the "zoom" and font size.

• If "Zoom" is set to 125%, the text will not be visible if the font size is set to "11".
• If "Zoom" is set to 150%, the text will not be visible if the font size is set to "9".
• If the font size is "9" when "Zoom" is set to 100%, it will become invisible when you zoom Notepad to 150%.
• If the font size is "11" when "Zoom" is set to 100%, it will become invisible when you zoom Notepad to 120%.
• If the font size is "12" when "Zoom" is set to 100%, it will become invisible when you zoom Notepad to 110%.

If you do this repeatedly, the underline will appear even if you make changes, but it will revert to its original state if you restart Explorer or sign out and restart it.

Older versions of Notepad,WordpadSince it displays without any problems, it's probably a problem with Notepad itself.

Also, as mentioned in the user's inquiry, this problem seems to occur when the fonts used are MS Gothic and MS Mincho.

As a result of the verification, it was found that the full-width underline "_" was sometimes not displayed, and the double-line underline "‗" was displayed as the normal half-width underline "_".

The solution is to change the font or zoom level in Notepad.

*This is a display issue only, so it will be displayed correctly when printed. (Confirmed)

This is a bug that is difficult to notice, so if there is a lot of feedback from users, Microsoft will likely address it.

2025/06/25: The above issue has been resolved in the latest version.