August 12th, 2024

Microsoft is killing the Windows Paint 3D app after 8 years

Microsoft will discontinue the Paint 3D app on November 4, 2024, encouraging users to switch to Paint and Photos for 2D editing and 3D Viewer for 3D content.

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Microsoft is killing the Windows Paint 3D app after 8 years

Microsoft has announced the discontinuation of the Paint 3D app, which will be removed from the Microsoft Store on November 4, 2024. Launched in November 2016 as a modern alternative to the classic Paint application, Paint 3D was pre-installed on some Windows 10 devices but was never included with Windows 11. Users are encouraged to transition to the traditional Paint and Photos apps for 2D image editing and to the 3D Viewer for 3D content. Although existing installations of Paint 3D will continue to function, they will not be available for download after the specified date. This decision follows Microsoft's previous announcements regarding the deprecation of other applications, including WordPad and Cortana. Over the past year, Microsoft has enhanced the Paint app with new features, such as a background removal tool and AI-driven image generation capabilities. The move to phase out Paint 3D aligns with the company's strategy to streamline its software offerings and focus on more widely used applications.

- Microsoft will remove Paint 3D from the Microsoft Store on November 4, 2024.

- Users are advised to switch to Paint and Photos for 2D editing and 3D Viewer for 3D content.

- Paint 3D was introduced in 2016 but was not included in Windows 11.

- Microsoft has been enhancing the traditional Paint app with new features.

- The discontinuation of Paint 3D is part of a broader trend of phasing out less popular applications.

Link Icon 5 comments
By @_xerces_ - 5 months
I hate the changes to the regular Paint app. They added stuff like layers and now it is really hard to do simple things like cut and paste and move parts of the image around because now you get a transparent hole in the image. I used to use it a lot to touch up or fix things in images of Excel graphs for slides, etc.
By @emrah - 5 months
Would MS opensource it and let it live on?
By @ThrowawayTestr - 5 months
I've literally never used it. Anyone use it regularly?
By @mepian - 5 months
Is it possible to reinstall it without Microsoft Store?
By @mrinfinitiesx - 5 months
At this point, nothing Microsoft offers is open source to my knowledge. Screenshots users screens to train AI, has ads in the start menu.

Krita and Gimp are nice, so is Inkscape. Pinta on linux desktop for the MSPaint but better experience.

Things like Adobe Photoshop charge monthly subscription fees then charge you to CANCEL your subscription.

Weighing it out, Windows is spyware. Funny it advises people to switch back to 'Paint' - Thanks, ol reliable since '98?