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.
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. The following folder consist of most System Apps of Windows XP SP 1, and paint is available in it.
Download Windows XP System Apps
After you have downloaded it, move mspaint to your C:\WINDOWS\system32 and Paint will be available again for your computer. Alternatively, you can also download other similar free softwares but more powerful like Paint.NET or GIMP.
Happy painting ![]()

20 Apr 08
2:34 pm
ty for this info i really needed it
07 Jun 08
7:17 pm
thnks bro………..it did work……thnks for tht link
15 Jun 08
11:19 am
how do i move the mspaint toC:\WINDOWS\system32
sorry i’m new to this..lol
15 Jun 08
12:08 pm
@britgit: Go to My Computer > Local Disk (C:) > WINDOWS > system32
01 Jul 08
1:00 am
thanks a lot
you are a great help
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.
14 Aug 08
9:14 pm
tx alote man i was looking for a link like this for about a month
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?