What Is an RTF File?

Rich Text Format explained: what is inside a .rtf file, which programs open it, and how it differs from DOCX.

Updated October 11, 2026

The short answer

An RTF file (.rtf) is a document in Rich Text Format, a format Microsoft created so that formatted documents could move between word processors. The file is text: the words are stored together with codes for fonts, sizes, bold, colors, alignment, lists and pictures. Almost every word processor reads it, which is why .rtf files from decades ago still open today.

To open one now, use Word, LibreOffice Writer, TextEdit on a Mac, or the free RTF editor on this site, which runs in your browser.

What is inside an RTF file

Open an RTF file in Notepad and you see what it is made of. Formatting is written as control words that start with a backslash, such as \b for bold or \par for the end of a paragraph, and braces { } group text with its formatting. Every file starts with {\rtf1. Here is a complete RTF file:

The file, as Notepad shows it

{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0
{\fonttbl{\f0\froman Times New Roman;}}
{\colortbl;\red0\green0\blue192;}
\f0\fs24 Plain, {\b bold}, {\i italic} and {\cf1 blue} text.\par
\qc Centered: caf\'e9 costs 3 \u8364?.\par
}

The document, as a word processor shows it

Plain, bold, italic and blue text.

Centered: café costs 3 €.

\fonttbl and \colortbl list the fonts and colors; \f0 and \cf1 then pick from those lists.
\fs24 is the font size in half-points: 24 means 12 pt.
\qc centers the paragraph.
Letters outside basic ASCII are written as codes: \'e9 is “é” in the Windows Western code page named by \ansicpg1252, and 荤? is the euro sign by its Unicode number (with “?” for programs too old to know it).

Pictures sit inside the file too, by default as long runs of hexadecimal digits, two for every byte of the image. That is why an RTF file with photos is often far larger than the same document saved as .docx or PDF.

A short history

When	What
1987	Microsoft first describes RTF, in the Microsoft Systems Journal.
1992	Microsoft publishes version 1.0 of the RTF specification.
1997	Version 1.5, with Word 97, adds Unicode characters (`\u`) and PNG and JPEG pictures.
March 2008	Version 1.9.1, for Word 2007, is the last release. Microsoft has not added features to RTF since.
2024	WordPad, the free Windows program many people used for .rtf files, is removed starting with Windows 11 version 24H2.

On the web, RTF files are served as application/rtf; text/rtf is registered too.

Is RTF the same as DOCX?

No. Both come from Microsoft and both hold formatted documents, but they are built differently and age differently.

	RTF (.rtf)	DOCX (.docx)
What the file is	One text file with formatting codes	A zip package of XML files, with pictures as separate files inside
Standard	Microsoft’s specification, last version 1.9.1 (2008)	Office Open XML: ECMA-376 (first edition 2006) and ISO/IEC 29500
Still developed	No, frozen since 2008	Yes, Word’s default format since Office 2007
Pictures	Hexadecimal text, about twice the image size	Compressed image files
Macros	Cannot hold them	Cannot hold them either (macros need .docm)
Opens in	Nearly every word processor, including TextEdit and older programs	Word, Google Docs, LibreOffice, Pages and most current programs

Choose RTF when a document must open in the widest range of programs, including old ones, and has simple formatting. Choose DOCX for anything you will keep editing in Word or Google Docs, for documents with photos, and when someone asks for a Word file. Converting is quick either way: the RTF to Word converter makes a .docx, and the RTF editor opens a .docx and saves it as .rtf.

What opens RTF files

Word on Windows and Mac opens and saves .rtf.
LibreOffice Writer, free for Windows, Mac and Linux, opens and saves .rtf.
TextEdit on a Mac uses rich text for new documents and saves it as .rtf.
Google Docs can import .rtf files and download a document as .rtf.
WordPad opens them on Windows 10 and on Windows 11 up to version 23H2; see WordPad on Windows 11.
This site: the RTF editor opens, edits and saves .rtf in the browser, and converters turn RTF into PDF, Word or plain text without opening the editor.

Notepad and code editors open RTF files as well, but show the codes rather than the formatted document.

Sources

Questions about RTF files

What does RTF stand for?

Rich Text Format. “Rich text” means text with formatting, such as fonts, bold, colors and alignment, as opposed to the plain text of a .txt file.

How do I open an RTF file on Windows 11?

Windows 11 version 24H2 no longer includes WordPad, which used to open .rtf files. Use Word if you have it, the free LibreOffice Writer, or the RTF editor on this site, which runs in the browser with nothing to install. Notepad opens the file too, but shows its codes instead of the formatting. Open an RTF file in the browser.

How do I open an RTF file on a Mac?

Double-click it: TextEdit, which comes with every Mac, opens .rtf files with their formatting and saves them too. New TextEdit documents are rich text by default. Pages, Word and LibreOffice for Mac open them as well.

Is it safe to open an RTF file?

An RTF file cannot contain macros, the scripts that make some Word files dangerous. Damaged or deliberately malformed RTF files have, however, been used to attack old versions of Word that lacked security updates, so open files from strangers only in up-to-date software. The editor on this site reads only text, formatting and pictures and leaves embedded objects out.

Why is my RTF file so large?

Pictures. RTF stores an image as hexadecimal text by default, two characters for each byte, inside the document itself, so a few photos can make a file of many megabytes. Saved as .docx or PDF, the same document is usually much smaller. RTF to Word converter.

Can I still create RTF files?

Yes. Word, LibreOffice Writer and TextEdit all save as .rtf, and so does the editor on this site: type or paste your text, format it, and choose File → Save as → Rich Text (.rtf).