Softonic

What will happen when you click Free Download?

  • You will be redirected to an external website to complete the download.
  • If you encounter any issues with your download, please report them here.

Alternatives to MS Paint

Also available in other platforms

Program available in other languages

App specs

Related topics about MS Paint

New apps

More Programs

Help & Info about MS Paint for Windows

  • What is MS Paint?

    MS Paint is a #n art application for digital drawing, designed to be used with Windows. It ranks amongst the best-known pieces of art software in existence, having for some time been included as standard with Windows.

  • What tools does MS Paint have?

    Paint's main tools are the brush (which can be customised), the pencil, the eraser, the colour picker, the fill tool, the text tool, the shape tool, and tools for flipping an resizing images.

  • What are custom colours?

    The custom colours option allows the user to edit their palette with additional colours. To do this, simply click the "edit colours" icon to the right of the palette, click one of the white boxes at the bottom of the resulting window, and use the on-screen options to generate your desired colour.

  • Does MS Paint cost anything to use?

    No. Paint is a free program; if it is not already include with the version of Windows that you are already running, then you can easily download it for free without any fees or hassle.

  • Is MS Paint still supported by Microsoft?

    No. In July 2017, Paint became a deprecated feature for Windows and will no longer be developed or updated. However, it is still easy to obtain and use, even for more recent versions of Windows.

  • How long has MS Paint been around?

    Paint is as old as Windows itself, being included as a feature of Windows 1.0 in 1985; its model was PC Paintbrush, released the previous year. Since then, as Windows has been updated an reworked, Paint has also undergone a number of revisions, although the basic interface remains the same.

  • Is MS Paint appropriate for children?

    Yes. In fact, given the simplicity of its tools and interface, Paint is particularly suited to children who are just starting out with digital art. It offers a goo way for young minds to get to grips with the basics of computer software in general.

  • Does MS Paint support layers?

    No. One of the main differences between Paint and other art software is that Paint does not have a layers function. However, it is possible to use a rough substitute for layers when drawing: if a sketch is drawn using one colour, and a refine version over the top in another colour, then it is possible to erase the first "layer" simply by removing its colour.

  • What filetypes are compatible with MS Paint?

    Paint is compatible with BMP, JPEG, GIF, PNG an TIFF formats. Earlier versions used the BMP format as default; however, in more recent releases the default was switched to JPEG, as BMP is no longer widely used as a format.

  • Does MS Paint still have users?

    Yes: despite being deprecated by Microsoft, Paint maintains a loyal fanbase. Its users acknowledge that, while it lacks the features of rival programs, Paint is still useful for creating art on a pixel-by-pixel basis, an aesthetic that is popular on the Internet amonst fans of old-fashioned video games.

Explore more

Related Articles

Laws concerning the use of this software vary from country to country. We do not encourage or condone the use of this program if it is in violation of these laws.
Softonic

In Softonic we scan all the files hosted on our platform to assess and avoid any potential harm for your device. Our team performs checks each time a new file is uploaded and periodically reviews files to confirm or update their status. This comprehensive process allows us to set a status for any downloadable file as follows:

Clean

It’s extremely likely that this software program is clean.

What does this mean?

We have scanned the file and URLs associated with this software program in more than 50 of the world's leading antivirus services; no possible threat has been detected.

Warning

This software program is potentially malicious or may contain unwanted bundled software.

Why is the software program still available?

Based on our scan system, we have determined that these flags are possibly false positives.

What is a false positive?

It means a benign program is wrongfully flagged as malicious due to an overly broad detection signature or algorithm used in an antivirus program.

We’d like to highlight that from time to time, we may miss a potentially malicious software program. To continue promising you a malware-free catalog of programs and apps, our team has integrated a Report Software feature in every catalog page that loops your feedback back to us.

Flag any particular issues you may encounter and Softonic will address those concerns as soon as possible.