Why not create a SDI application in which your view class is derived from CFormView. Then you can insert a rich edit control on your form. If you choose this method there are a couple of things that you will need to consider: 1. Add the line AfxInitRichEdit(); to the InitInstance function of your app class. 2. Remove the line ResizeParentToFit(); from the OnInitialUpdate function of your view class. 3. In the OnInitialUpdate and OnSize functions of your view class to resize your rich edit window to fit your view class.