Rich Text Format
What is a RTF file?
RTF (Rich Text Format) was introduced by Microsoft in 1987 so documents could move between different word processors. It stores text with basic formatting like fonts, bold, italics, lists and simple tables, using plain readable codes. It's still produced by WordPad, some medical and legal systems, and older software exports.
How to open a RTF file
- Windows
- Open it in Microsoft Word, or in WordPad on versions of Windows that still include it.
- Mac
- Double-click to open in TextEdit, which reads and writes RTF natively.
- iPhone
- Preview it in the Files app, or open it in Pages to edit.
- Android
- Open it in the Microsoft Word app, or convert it to DOCX for Google Docs.
Good for
- Readable by almost every word processor
- Keeps basic formatting
- No macros, so it's a safe format to receive
Watch out for
- No styles, comments or track changes
- Files can be large because they aren't compressed
- Complex layouts are simplified
RTF file questions
Is RTF better than DOCX?
Only for compatibility with very old software. For everything else, DOCX is smaller and supports far more features.
Why is my RTF file so big?
RTF isn't compressed, and embedded images are stored as text. Converting to DOCX usually makes the file much smaller.
Can Google Docs open RTF?
Yes, Google Docs can import RTF, though converting to DOCX first often gives a cleaner result.