This guide is for people who removed or accidentally un-installed their Microsoft Paint on their Windows, but now want them back. I lost my MS Paint too two days ago, poking at the wrong place of my Add/Remove Windows Component and there goes my mspaint. It can only be re-installed with a Windows XP CD in my case, but I don’t have any with me.
If your Paint is gone from your computer too, do this to make sure the software really does not exist in your system, and not just the shortcut being deleted. Go to Start > Run > Type “mspaint” > OK. If your MSPaint starts, meaning it is still there, just that you have deleted the shortcut. Just create another shortcut and it will be fine.
I have a Windows XP CD
If you are 100% sure that MS Paint does not exist in your system anymore, there are three ways to get it back. The first way is to install it via your Windows XP CD. You can do so by going to
Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs > Add/Remove Windows Components > Double click on "Accessories and Utilities" > Double click on "Accessories" > Check "Paint" > OK > Next..
I DON’T have a Windows XP CD
The second way is grab a copy of the mspaint file from a relative, a friend or your pet dog’s computer. Copy mspaint.exe from their C:\WINDOWS\system32 to your flash drive, and paste it back to your computer’s “system32″ folder. Create a shortcut of it and place it anywhere you like and you are done.
Download mspaint.exe
Worse comes to worst, you don’t have a CD, nor a friend or relative with Windows XP, and your pet dog is using a MacBook, you are left with no choice but to download it.
[Download mspaint.exe] (mirror)
After you have downloaded it, move mspaint.exe to your C:\WINDOWS\system32 and Paint will be available again for your computer. To create a shortcut, just right click on the mspaint.exe icon, select “Create Shortcut“. When the shortcut is created, you can cut and paste it to anywhere you want for easy access later.
In case you lost all your Windows system applications, the following folder consist of most System Apps of Windows XP SP 1 (calculator, notepad etc.), and paint is also available in it.
Download Windows XP System Apps (mirror)
Happy painting 
20 Apr 08
2:34 pm
ty for this info i really needed it
Reply
may replied:
February 24th, 2010 at 12:52 pm
i found a nice software on a page on the net to restore all the window xp accessories and utilities if u have deleted them accidently…follow the link and click the download link on the site opened:
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/Accessories.htm
Reply
07 Jun 08
7:17 pm
thnks bro………..it did work……thnks for tht link
Reply
15 Jun 08
11:19 am
how do i move the mspaint toC:\WINDOWS\system32
sorry i’m new to this..lol
Reply
heyyyy replied:
June 22nd, 2009 at 10:00 pm
i dont get it either its confusing??????????????
Reply
Blaze_meister replied:
November 7th, 2009 at 10:33 pm
You got to run then type in C:\WINDOWS\system32 it will open a folder then drop and drag mspaint into it. Then create a shortcut using right-click and put it on your desktop or other desirable place\
simpler terms if Vincent’s didn’t work for you
Reply
15 Jun 08
12:08 pm
@britgit: Go to My Computer > Local Disk (C:) > WINDOWS > system32
Reply
01 Jul 08
1:00 am
thanks a lot
you are a great help
Reply
11 Jul 08
3:09 pm
I did all of this and all went great, thanks. Now, I tried to edit a picture by left clicking on the mouse and it gives me a msg:
This file does not have a program associated with it for performing this action. Create an association in the Folder Options control panel.
Reply
Jiniya replied:
April 12th, 2009 at 7:35 am
That’s happening to me now.
Reply
14 Aug 08
9:14 pm
tx alote man i was looking for a link like this for about a month
Reply
16 Aug 08
11:11 pm
I tried running MSPAINT and it worked fine… but paint is nowhere to be found in my start menu anywhere. I want to make a shortcut for it, but I dont know how. How do I create another shortcut?
Reply
suresh replied:
January 18th, 2010 at 5:51 pm
right click the ms paint icon.Go to send to option and click ‘desktop(create shortcut)’ button.
Reply
VIJAYA replied:
January 27th, 2010 at 3:54 pm
right click the paint iccngo to sent
Reply
13 Sep 08
3:27 pm
I tried running MS PAINT and it worked fine… but paint is nowhere to be found in my start menu anywhere. I want to make a shortcut for it, but I don’t know how. How do I create another shortcut?
Reply
06 Oct 08
9:02 am
thanxs this is a great help i would mension this to everybody iv been working with this for years but i diddnt now how to do this c ya
Reply
07 Oct 08
4:44 am
im having a bit of trouble now making a shortcut can u help?????????
Reply
10 Oct 08
12:16 am
hank you so much! I hear theres bigger/better apps, but i’m used to this one.
Reply
02 Nov 08
3:45 pm
thank you so much! hahahaha! im so happy now! your post was very very helpful!
Reply
11 Nov 08
7:49 am
i like the download
Reply
17 Nov 08
8:45 am
how do i get ms panit 4 free!!!!
thatz my comment so give mii feeback @ MY EMAIL—–LETITRAININME@GMAIL.COM
KAYZ
Reply
20 Nov 08
12:55 am
Best possible support one can provide…
Thnx 4ur support!!!
Reply
23 Nov 08
4:27 am
Thanks!
Reply
28 Nov 08
2:40 pm
Thank you, this was helpful!
Reply
12 Jan 09
1:09 pm
Thanks so much for this helpful
Reply
23 Jan 09
12:32 pm
Okay I found the paint thing, but dont know how to save the program to the system 32 thing. I dont know what I click on. I click on it and it does open but I cant just go to file save, becasue it will save the picture which is blank I dont know how to save the file. Please help. asap
I actually need help with more details on what to do. I opened file and see mspaint. Click o it and it opens mspaint. Then. I dont know if im supposed to click on the mspaint folder and it says something about extracting it. I dont know what im doing. So I actually need more help with finding out how to save it to my system32 folder. I thought I did it but its not existing still when I go to run; then mspaint it shows that it still doesnt exist in the computer’s memory. so If I could just get a better detailed description. Maybe there is something that I am not doing before saving the file where I forgot.
Reply
Vincent replied:
January 23rd, 2009 at 3:59 pm
I’ve emailed you with instructions, hope it helps.
Reply
23 Jan 09
8:36 pm
I need Windows Paint To modify some hunting files and it is not on my machine. Need a Copy, Thanks!
Reply
Vincent replied:
January 24th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
Download it here: http://www.sheeptech.com/download/mspaint.exe
Reply
23 Feb 09
4:49 am
thank you so much!
was very easy to figure out, if you still don’t know a way to save it to your computer here’s a way how!
1. when the download popup comes up, push save.
2. save it to documents.
3. go to start, my documents.
4. drag the MSPAINT icon onto your background with all your other icons.
5. right click, and push rename.
6. rename it “paint” so next time you know what it is!
-hope this is helpfull!
Reply
LC2010 replied:
November 3rd, 2009 at 5:33 am
perfect, thanks!!!
Reply
27 Feb 09
1:31 pm
Thank You! I hope that you can see that I am bowing and doing the “I’m Not Worthy” pose. I’m a bit shocked to see that this many people all have had the same problem. I have no idea where or when my Paint left me, but I do know that I can now get it back. Thank you so much. ~ Donna
Reply
LC2010 replied:
November 3rd, 2009 at 5:30 am
my sentiments exactly!
the same time paint dissappeared, so did all the system games, like solitare and free cell. notepad and the calculator are still in “accessories” but all the games and paint left, i really needed paint back, but would you, Vincent, know what to do about the games? i miss playing spider solitare and pin ball!
Reply
22 Mar 09
12:21 am
This is an amazing site man .. i really needed that mspaint.exe file.. nobody had it .. i searched whole of google for this..
really man.. m very thankful to you..
i’m glad that u thought of putting this up online.. keep up the good work..!
Reply
25 Mar 09
7:50 pm
200* Thanks
Reply
28 Mar 09
6:11 pm
thank you soooo much!!! you can´t believe how much i missed my paint.. will never forget this
Reply
30 Mar 09
4:08 am
this is absolutely the best, you are the greatest!!!!! I have been so stressed over losing most of my programs trying to do a clean up, i should have worked on a mental clean up first. hahah. Do you happen to know why i can get all my games back now, like hearts, solitaire, ect.
Thank you so very much.
Reply
10 Apr 09
1:51 pm
Thank you so much. I really needed these. And it works. Thank you! More power!
Reply
12 Apr 09
7:31 am
THANK YOU!!!!
i had to read everything…
and i could’ve just scrolled down and look at the download link. -__-
Reply
12 Apr 09
7:33 am
well, it isn’t the same icon like the one next to the article. where can i get back that icon? it looks pretty cool though.
Reply
18 Apr 09
9:27 am
This was soo cool, I lost paint months ago and stumbled in here. I don’t know how to make a shortcut but suggesting run:mspaint works! I wish I could get the shortcut back into the bar thingie, but whatever. Thanks so much.
Reply
19 Apr 09
1:29 pm
THANKS SOOOOO MUCH!
I did the same as everyone else and accidently removed everything from the uninstall control panel.
Paint is back……take that Photoshop!
Reply
20 Apr 09
2:55 pm
thank u very much………………..
Reply
27 Apr 09
11:42 pm
How will i put MS Paint into the C:\WINDOWS\system32?
Reply
30 Apr 09
2:51 pm
i want to use it to make a crime scene for a term paper
Reply
06 May 09
12:18 am
Thanks so much. For some reason my Clean Files took mine off my computer. I have other files like this but still use Paint a lot. I really do like it now that I know how to use it. Your a doll. Thanks so much.
Rox
Reply
15 May 09
1:11 am
I deleted my shortcut to mspaint; how do I creat another shortcut?.
Thanks,
Reply
Vincent replied:
May 15th, 2009 at 1:35 am
Go to
C:\Windows\system32> look formspaint.exeRight-click on it > Create shortcut > Drag shortcut to wherever you want.Reply
15 May 09
7:01 am
YOU’R THE MAN !!! OHHH YEAH !!
thank you VERY much for this !!
/love
<3 <3
Reply
19 May 09
9:45 am
Thanks dude i was freakin out, looking all over my computer for it haha. Thanks!
Reply
28 May 09
9:48 pm
thnx
Reply
10 Jun 09
1:08 pm
thank you!!! now i can use paint back!! i love to draw something use paint thank for make this web
Reply
12 Jun 09
8:49 pm
i have windows vista though.
Reply
Vincent replied:
June 24th, 2009 at 2:56 am
It works on both Windows XP and Vista as far as I’m concerned.
Reply
30 Jun 09
8:55 pm
Thanks, this was downloaded but I do not see the Paint icon in the Accessories area yet. I added the Paint to the windows\sys32 area and when I opened the sys32, Paint was there with the brushes in the glass. I cannot paste it here either to show you but you know what it looks like.
I hope this works. I will try it to see. Thanks for your info. Rita
In the Systems Apps. There is no Fax either and this is normally on the winxp cd. I could not get the winxp cd to install the Paint or the Fax as it asked if this was the Microsoft Home Edition of Winxp and it was. I did not use my laptop winxp cd for this and probably should have.
Reply
01 Jul 09
4:19 pm
thanks soooo much! so helpful
Reply
06 Jul 09
1:38 pm
This is the paint I needed for the new PC I play on now! Thanks!m
Reply
13 Jul 09
7:24 pm
OH MY GOODNESS, I WAS JUST ABOUT TO GIVE UP.. THIS HAS BEEN SOO HELPFUL!! THANK YOU SOO MUCH!
~
Reply
31 Jul 09
12:28 am
Thanks for info …great going……really helpful…Keep up the good work…
Reply
31 Jul 09
1:59 am
Thanks alot!!! No idea what happened to mine (possibly the scary “remove pgms” process!) and I had no cd available. I took a chance on ur download & I got it back. You help restore my faith in human beings!
Reply
31 Jul 09
10:11 am
Instruction :
download the files, copying to the windows/system32, and right click the files and create shortcut to desktop…DONE
Reply
02 Aug 09
4:20 pm
Tnx…iT Helps A Lot..
Reply
11 Aug 09
6:24 pm
OMG! thank you! I accidentally deleted microsoft paint form my computer by doing the “Add/Remove Windows Component” thing you mentioned.
But anyways thx for putting the link for downloading MS paint, this really helped.
Reply
27 Aug 09
2:11 am
wow, i find this article very very useful and very helpful, i’ve been trying to find a way to get ms paint back for months, all the links that i’ve dl’ed and installed jus kept getting screwed up. I didnt know u were suppose to put the paint.exe to the system32 folder lolol, ty alooot for this!!
Reply
02 Sep 09
6:35 pm
OMG! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!
Reply
06 Sep 09
10:57 pm
Thanks so much for your help !
Reply
06 Sep 09
11:52 pm
Awesome! I thought it was completely gone and it’s what I use to edit videos! the run thing rly worked!!!! THANKS SOOOO MUCH!!!!
Reply
17 Sep 09
7:49 pm
thanks so much! i lost my mspaint 2weeks ago after trying to optimize my windows and memory by deleting uneeded programs and files in both the system and the other drives,
i was stuck with adobe photoshop sometime now and i really get impatient with the loading time just to start the freakin powerful program…
now i can do simple editing again in paint like crop,invert color,resize,and some more without the hassle of overloading my videocard and ram
thanks so much for giving me this! you are the man!
Reply
02 Oct 09
7:28 pm
Thx A Lot Man! U R Good To Be A Helper!
U Are Smart!Why?Because You Uploaded The “mspaint.exe”.Just Because “mspaint.exe” Doesn’t Exist Anymore At 2 Of My Comp,And Now I Have It Back Again!THX VERY MUCH MAN!.Watch My Videos At My Website (Youtube Cannel).
Reply
03 Oct 09
8:55 am
lost mine while reinstallaling thanks man
Reply
12 Oct 09
12:25 am
This works for people who have ribbons problems with mspaint windows 7. the smooth line performed by windows 7’s mspaint version is not performet by the one sugested by this topic.
Reply
15 Oct 09
8:13 pm
This is one amazing site that really helped me!!! Thanks a zillion!!!
Reply
22 Oct 09
7:00 pm
finally someone who gives another option than the ”find it in your system32 or windows components”, thanks so much, and special thanks for the download link
Reply
22 Oct 09
9:13 pm
You are FREAKING amazing, THANK YOU THANK YOU!!
Reply
23 Oct 09
9:24 pm
teste
Reply
23 Oct 09
11:12 pm
Thank you very much… it helps me alot!
Reply
27 Oct 09
4:15 pm
YES!! thanks!
Reply
09 Nov 09
1:12 am
ya thanks it worked
Reply
21 Nov 09
4:53 am
Thank you 1000000000000000000000!!!!
it worked
ive been trying amillion years to get paint!
Reply
28 Nov 09
11:27 pm
I have paint on my desktop and have been using it for years. All of a sudden the other day when I try to make a pic. smaller and save it, it only comes out in black and white. I get a msg. telling me that I may loose some color. I cannot figure out what happened. When I go to list my software it doesn’t show up. I also went to ADD/Delete and cannot find it. I’m at a loss.
Reply
28 Nov 09
11:39 pm
I have paint on my desktop and have been using it for years. All of a sudden the other day when I try to make a pic. smaller and save it, it only comes out in black and white. I get a msg. telling me that I may loose some color. I cannot figure out what happened. When I go to list my software it doesn’t show up. I also went to ADD/Delete and cannot find it. I’m at a loss. (add) the note I get says. “Saving in this format may cause loss of color information. Do you want to continue. How do I change the format so I don’t lose the color.
Reply
30 Nov 09
11:01 am
THANK YOU SO MUCCCCCCCCH.
I have been dying to find a Free MS Paint download, I found mtPaint – that’s… just complicated. All I need with MS paint is resizing photos….
<3 Thank youuuuu~~
Reply
11 Dec 09
3:23 pm
Thank you so much. I can’t believe Microsoft is so anal regarding ms-paint’s installation. I have a completely legit copy of Windows XP Pro. I lost the CD years ago somewhere in my basement & apparently Microsoft just really needs it to reinstall such a simple program.
Anyways… the writer of this article ended 2 months of my pain. Thank you!
Reply
16 Dec 09
1:40 am
Thank you, u’ve saved all my pic files for paint
Merry Xmas
Reply
20 Dec 09
6:11 pm
Thanks a ton! I was puzzling forever on how to get MSPaint back on my laptop and I couldn’t find it from Microsoft and I didn’t want to get some replacement program. I wanted MSPaint! I’m kind of embarrassed that I had never thought of just copying it from another computer. It’s so simple!
Julia
Reply
27 Dec 09
10:19 pm
please email with help if anyone could be so kind.
i have tried all this..i have paint and was able to find it on my pc but it wont let me drag or drop it to the system32..when i right click on the icon all i get is move size min close opptions..i have it up in my tray but that it i cant get a shortcut to add it to anywhere..please help
thanks so much
jadedaula5@yahoo.com
Reply
28 Dec 09
10:13 pm
thanks.
Reply
31 Dec 09
1:18 am
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!
I used this to get XP paint onto windows 7. As the paint on windows 7 is absolutely diabolical!!
Reply
31 Dec 09
6:38 am
Hey could you add Sound recorder to your package, i need it bc of an accidental deletion.
Reply
31 Dec 09
6:58 am
THANKS SO MUCH !!!
Reply
01 Jan 10
2:36 pm
Thank you so much!!
I am very sure I did not delete/uninstall paint/calculator but I was surprised they had vanished.
Reply
05 Jan 10
3:35 am
Thanks works like a butter…
mspaint is back on my computer
Reply
05 Jan 10
3:35 am
THANKS A BUNCH!!!
Reply
10 Jan 10
9:16 pm
thx a lot bro.. it works as it should.. im just simply drag d mspaint.exe to WINDOWS\system32 and pin to start menu.. and it works ^^
Reply
12 Jan 10
7:11 pm
hey thx a lot!
Reply
14 Jan 10
2:45 am
Hey, Thanks! I had it already.. but i wanted the english version, but still.. Thanks!!
Reply
17 Jan 10
2:21 am
HIELLO,
MY NAME IS ISABEL DIAZ….
LAST WEEK, I HAVE A PROBLEM WITH MS PAINT AND ERR MSG … THIRTE IS NOT ENOUGH MEMORY OR TO RESOURNCE TO COMPLETE OPERATION, CLOSE SOME PROGRAMS. AND THEN TRY AGIAN…..
WHAT I CAN TO DO?? THE IMAGE TOO BIG AND CAN’T CLOSE?? I TURN OFF COMPUTER….. MAYBE MY BROTHER GONNA FIX IT…. DELETES MS PAINT AND REINSTALL NEW MS PAINT SOON….
Reply
17 Jan 10
2:24 am
Thanks alot. I did want the vista version of paint though, I transfered it from my parents computer but it always comes up with a “Failed to create empty document” error. XP version meets my needs though.
Reply
22 Jan 10
1:11 am
its really very helpful from u bro……..
thank u very much.
god bless u.
Reply
23 Jan 10
2:10 am
Dont’ care about my english, I can’t speak it very well, I’m Brazilian. Oh my god, Thanks
Reply
23 Jan 10
2:42 pm
I had one pic but it being destroyed by recolouring it on ‘paint’. can any body tell me how to regain it original essence.
Reply
24 Jan 10
6:45 pm
Thanks a lot! Works in Windows 7 too
Reply
26 Jan 10
10:55 am
Thanks so much! I hate Windows 7 Paint. =P
Reply
27 Jan 10
2:02 am
thanks bro.. its working….
Reply
30 Jan 10
11:36 am
thanks on this bro i realy like the way you say if you dont have any friend or ur dog is using macbook i realy lough at hard
Reply
02 Feb 10
10:43 pm
thnx a ton for ms paint
Reply
05 Feb 10
7:30 am
Thank you so much! I was about to kill my laptop because of the new Windows 7 version of MS Paint (stupid anti-aliasing!); this link saved my blood pressure a lot! XD
I cannot worship you enough right now.
Reply
06 Feb 10
9:46 pm
hehe i want this paint because i have windows 7 and i dont know where is what can i download this?
Reply
07 Feb 10
3:58 pm
Thanx a lot ….
Reply
07 Feb 10
11:26 pm
Thanks for the great help. It worked like charm. My MS paint is working fine now.
Thanks a lot…
Reply
08 Feb 10
9:18 am
awesome! if i ever lose my paint ill know where to look!
but do you know how to get the new (MS7) paint, for my vista?
Reply
10 Feb 10
10:53 pm
Absolutely tremendous – thanks very much!
Reply
12 Feb 10
5:30 am
Your dog using a macbook haha. Humor genious.
Reply
12 Feb 10
5:44 am
Thank you very much. I lost my Microsoft Paint when my computer got restarted (renewed windows). I tried drawing in other programs but I just can’t do it :\
Thanks a lot! ^^
Reply
14 Feb 10
6:03 pm
Hi! I’ve tried to reinstall Paint, but still get the same error message, “not enough memory, close and try again”. Any suggestions? Thanks! Marcia
Reply
15 Feb 10
7:53 am
Thanks! It worked..
Cheers
JM
Reply
15 Feb 10
11:44 pm
WOW, thank you SO much, windows 7 has “upgraded” mspaint and erased all simple paint brushes for pixel art. You are a life saver!
Reply
26 Feb 10
10:18 pm
can you take the windows vista paint and use it on an xp machine?
Reply
27 Feb 10
1:12 am
Found this info very usefull. Being as thick as mollasses in the neck of a Jack Daniels Bottle this info helped me me extract paint from the utilities and get it onto the start panel. I use paint quite a bit. Great for taking screen grabs. Paint user should also try Paint.NET. Its a Freebie
Best Regards and many thanks
Joe”as thick as mince” Morrow
Reply
05 Mar 10
8:17 am
Works well, however I cannot add text or save as anything other than .PNG. Works great other than that but I wish I knew how to fix this.
Reply
09 Mar 10
4:26 pm
it sucks i want ms paint not nomal paint
Reply