Microsoft Paint now has a new toggle that lets you hide the toolbar automatically. You can also use the arrow key to collapse it while you focus on the canvas. It’s a nifty addition, and I can see a couple of use cases if you use Paint all the time. At the same time, Paint is also getting some new AI features.

There are a couple of use cases for hiding the toolbar automatically. The Paint’s toolbar has grown in size, especially after getting a “modern” UI revamp, and that means it takes up more space. With this new toggle, you can set Paint to automatically hide the toolbar, and there’s a toggle to show the toolbar if you want to change brush size or something.

Or it’s also a good feature if you want to focus specifically on the canvas for tight editing, zooming, or finishing touches. I can’t think of any other use cases, but it’s always nice to have options, especially when they’re optional. I wish Microsoft would also add a toggle that lets me turn off the growing Copilot features in Paint, but I doubt that will happen

Paint gets new AI features as part of “Labs.”

Microsoft has a “Windows AI Labs” program that lets you experiment with upcoming AI features, but it’s quite limited, and not everybody has access to it. For good or bad reasons, I do have access to Paint’s AI Labs on one of my PCs, and there’s a new feature called “Generative edit.”

Copilot in Paint has always allowed you to generate images, but up until now, it was not possible to edit an image using a prompt. With Generative edit, Microsoft says Paint uses an AI model that makes changes to your input image based on your text description. It does not appear to be GPT-based and is most likely an in-house model by Microsoft

“If you find a creation to be unexpected or offensive, send us feedback,” Microsoft warns within the app, so there is a possibility the AI could go rough.

There is no guarantee that AI Labs features like “Generative Edit” will stay in Paint, as Microsoft previously tested “animations,” which allowed you to create short clips using your Paint edits, but the feature did not make the cut, and Microsoft has pulled it from MS Paint, even if you are signed up for Labs.

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