Guide

RTF Rich Text Format: The Complete Technical Guide

PC By Pablo Cirre • Updated May 7, 2026

What Is RTF?

RTF (Rich Text Format) is a document format developed by Microsoft in 1987, originally as a cross-platform exchange format between different word processors and operating systems. Unlike plain text, RTF preserves text formatting — fonts, sizes, bold/italic/underline, colors, paragraph alignment, indentation, and even embedded images. Unlike binary formats (DOC, DOCX), RTF is entirely plain text — you can open an RTF file in any text editor and read the raw markup.

RTF was designed with interoperability as the primary goal: it was Microsoft's answer to the question "how do we transfer formatted text between Word on DOS, Word on Mac, and third-party word processors?" That design philosophy — plain text with embedded markup — made RTF extraordinarily durable. Despite being largely superseded by DOCX for document exchange, RTF remains:

The interchange format for macOS TextEdit and iOS Notes
The format used internally by Windows Clipboard for rich text
A universal import/export target supported by every major word processor
The default format for WordPad (still shipped with Windows)
Widely used in legal technology, court systems, and legacy enterprise software

File Structure

RTF files are pure ASCII text (extended to include binary blobs for embedded objects). The fundamental structure is a hierarchy of groups enclosed in braces {}, with control words prefixed by backslash \.

RTF Preamble

Every valid RTF file starts with:

{\rtf1\ansi\deff0

{ — opens the root group (the entire document)
\rtf1 — identifies the file as RTF version 1
\ansi — character set (ANSI; alternatives: \mac, \pc, \pca)
\deff0 — default font is font #0 from the font table

Font Table

{\fonttbl
  {\f0\froman\fcharset0 Times New Roman;}
  {\f1\fswiss\fcharset0 Arial;}
  {\f2\fmodern\fcharset0 Courier New;}
}

Each font entry: \f = font number, \froman/\fswiss/\fmodern/\fnil = font family, \fcharset = character set encoding.

Color Table

{\colortbl
  ;           ← color 0: auto (default)
  \red255\green0\blue0;    ← color 1: red
  \red0\green0\blue255;    ← color 2: blue
}

Colors are referenced by index: \cf1 = color 1 (foreground), \highlight2 = color 2 (background highlight).

Document Body

After the tables, the document body contains paragraphs separated by \par:

\pard\sb240\sa120
{\b\fs28 Chapter One\par}
\pard\sb0\sa120\fi720
This is a paragraph with a first-line indent. The text continues
normally until the {\i italic phrase} and then resumes.\par

Control Words Reference

Control words are the RTF markup primitives. Each is a backslash followed by letters, optionally followed by a numeric parameter and a delimiter (space or non-letter):

Character Formatting

Control Word	Effect
`\b`	Bold on (toggle)
`\b0`	Bold off
`\i`	Italic on
`\ul`	Underline on
`\ulnone`	Underline off
`\strike`	Strikethrough
`\scaps`	Small caps
`\fs24`	Font size 24 half-points (= 12pt)
`\f1`	Use font #1 from font table
`\cf2`	Foreground color #2
`\highlight3`	Background highlight color #3
`\super`	Superscript
`\sub`	Subscript

Note: Font size in RTF is in half-points. \fs24 = 12pt, \fs28 = 14pt, \fs72 = 36pt.

Paragraph Formatting

Control Word	Effect
`\pard`	Reset to default paragraph formatting
`\ql`	Left-align (default)
`\qr`	Right-align
`\qc`	Center
`\qj`	Justify
`\sb240`	Space before: 240 twips (= 12pt)
`\sa120`	Space after: 120 twips (= 6pt)
`\li720`	Left indent: 720 twips (= 0.5 inch)
`\ri0`	Right indent: 0
`\fi720`	First-line indent: 720 twips
`\fi-720\li720`	Hanging indent
`\sl276\slmult1`	Line spacing: 1.15× (276/240)

Twips: The RTF unit is the twip = 1/20 of a point = 1/1440 of an inch. A standard 1-inch margin = 1440 twips.

Section and Page Control

Control Word	Effect
`\sect`	Section break
`\page`	Page break
`\landscape`	Landscape orientation
`\paperw12240`	Paper width: 12240 twips (8.5 inches)
`\paperh15840`	Paper height: 15840 twips (11 inches)
`\margl1800`	Left margin: 1800 twips (1.25 inches)

Embedded Images

RTF can embed binary image data as hexadecimal strings:

{\pict\wmetafile8\picw2267\pich2267\picwgoal1247\pichgoal1247
010009000003b000000000800300000000000008030000...}

Or PNG/JPEG directly:

{\pict\pngblip\picw200\pich150\picwgoal2834\pichgoal2126
89504e470d0a1a0a...}

The \pict destination introduces a picture. Format control words: \wmetafile (WMF), \emfblip (EMF), \pngblip (PNG), \jpegblip (JPEG).

RTF Compatibility Across Applications

RTF has no single spec authority — Microsoft published the spec through version 1.9.1 (Word 2007), and applications implement varying subsets:

Application	RTF Support
Microsoft Word	Full (also writes proprietary extensions)
LibreOffice Writer	Very good (some Word extensions ignored)
Google Docs	Good import; export loses some features
Apple Pages	Good import/export
macOS TextEdit	Basic (no tables, no complex formatting)
WordPad (Windows)	Basic (no footnotes, headers, tables)
Notepad++	Opens as text (no formatting rendered)

Common Compatibility Issues

Word-specific control words: \trowd/\trrh/\cellx (table structure) is standard RTF, but Word adds private extensions like \tblind that LibreOffice ignores.

Fonts: RTF embeds font names but not font files. If the target system lacks the font, substitution occurs. Always check output on the target platform.

Images: JPEG images embedded in RTF can have color space issues when rendered by non-Microsoft RTF parsers.

Revision tracking: \revtbl, \author, \time control words for tracked changes work fully only in Word.

Converting RTF Files

With FFmpeg / Pandoc

# RTF to DOCX
pandoc input.rtf -o output.docx

# RTF to PDF
pandoc input.rtf -o output.pdf

# RTF to plain text (strip all formatting)
pandoc input.rtf -t plain -o output.txt

# RTF to HTML
pandoc input.rtf -t html -o output.html

# RTF to Markdown
pandoc input.rtf -t markdown -o output.md

Python (striprtf)

from striprtf.striprtf import rtf_to_text

with open('document.rtf', 'r', encoding='utf-8', errors='ignore') as f:
    rtf_content = f.read()

text = rtf_to_text(rtf_content)
print(text)

LibreOffice command-line

# Convert RTF to PDF via LibreOffice headless
soffice --headless --convert-to pdf input.rtf

# Convert RTF to DOCX
soffice --headless --convert-to docx input.rtf

# Convert directory of RTFs to PDFs
soffice --headless --convert-to pdf *.rtf

Reading RTF structure manually

import re

def parse_rtf_basic(rtf_text):
    """Extract plain text from RTF by stripping control words."""
    # Remove RTF groups and control words
    text = re.sub(r'\{[^{}]*\}', '', rtf_text)  # remove simple groups
    text = re.sub(r'\\[a-z]+\d*\s?', '', text)   # remove control words
    text = re.sub(r'\\[^a-z]', '', text)          # remove control symbols
    return text.strip()

RTF vs DOCX vs ODF

Feature	RTF	DOCX	ODT
File type	Plain text	ZIP of XMLs	ZIP of XMLs
Human-readable	Yes (with effort)	No	No
Max image quality	Good	Excellent	Excellent
Revision tracking	Limited	Full	Full
Tables	Yes (complex)	Full	Full
Macros/VBA	No	Yes (DOCX)	Yes (ODT)
Compatibility	Universal	Near-universal	Good
File size (text doc)	Small-Medium	Small	Small
Long-term archival	Good	Good	Excellent (ISO)

When to Use RTF

Use RTF when:

Maximum compatibility is required across all word processors (even legacy)
Sharing documents with legal software, court filing systems, or old enterprise applications
Creating simple formatted documents without complex features
You need human-readable document source (for debugging, scripting, or text processing)

Avoid RTF when:

Complex tables, footnotes, or tracking changes are needed
File size is critical (RTF images are hex-encoded = 2× binary size)
Collaborating in modern cloud workflows (use DOCX or Google Docs format)
Long-term archival (prefer ODT/ISO 26300 or PDF/A)

RTF's ASCII-based design means it can always be opened in a text editor, scripted with regex, and processed without specialized libraries — a property that ensures its continued relevance 35+ years after its creation.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Yes — Google Docs can open RTF files directly. Go to File → Open, or drag the RTF file into Google Drive. Basic formatting (bold, italic, fonts, colors, paragraph alignment) imports correctly. More complex features like footnotes, revision marks, or Word-specific table formatting may not import perfectly. Google Docs can also export to RTF via File → Download → Rich Text Format (.rtf).

Yes — Google Docs can abrir RTF arquivos directly. Go to arquivo → Open, ou drag the RTF arquivo em Google Drive. Basic formatoting (bold, italic, fonts, colors, paragraph alignment) imports correctly. More complexo features like footnotes, revision marks, ou Word-specific table formatoting may not import perfectly. Google Docs can also export to RTF via arquivo → baixar → Rich Text formato (.rtf).

Yes — Google Docs can öffnen RTF Dateien directly. Go to Datei → Open, oder drag the RTF Datei in Google Drive. Basic Formatting (bold, italic, fonts, colors, paragraph alignment) imports correctly. More complex features like footnotes, revision marks, oder Word-specific table Formatting may not import perfectly. Google Docs can also export to RTF via Datei → herunterladen → Rich Text Format (.rtf).

Yes — Google Docs can abrir RTF archivos directly. Go to archivo → Open, o drag the RTF archivo en Google Drive. Basic formatoting (bold, italic, fonts, colors, paragraph alignment) imports correctly. More complex features like footnotes, revision marks, o Word-specific table formatoting may not import perfectly. Google Docs can also export to RTF via archivo → descargar → Rich Text formato (.rtf).

Send <strong>PDF</strong> when the document is final and the layout must be preserved exactly (contracts, invoices, certificates). Send <strong>DOCX</strong> when reviewers need to edit, comment, or track changes. Many teams send both: PDF as the canonical version + DOCX for editable feedback. PDF/A is the right pick for legal archival (ISO 19005).

RTF stores all data as plain ASCII text, which creates inefficiency. Images embedded in RTF are hex-encoded (each binary byte becomes two ASCII characters), doubling their size. Formatting markup adds overhead for every character range. DOCX (a ZIP archive of compressed XML) compresses both text and binary data. A document with embedded images that is 200 KB as DOCX might be 800 KB or more as RTF. For small text-only documents the size difference is minimal.

RTF stores all data as plain ASCII text, which creates inefficiency. Images embedded in RTF are hex-encoded (each binary byte becomes two ASCII characters), doubling their size. formatoting markup adds overhead para every character range. DOCX (a ZIP archive of comprimido XML) compresses both text e binary data. A document com embedded images that is 200 KB as DOCX might be 800 KB ou more as RTF. para small text-only documents the size difference is minimal.

RTF stores all data as plain ASCII text, which creates inefficiency. Images embedded in RTF are hex-encoded (each binary byte becomes two ASCII characters), doubling their size. Formatting markup adds overhead für every character range. DOCX (a ZIP archive von komprimiert XML) compresses both text und binary data. A document mit embedded images that is 200 KB as DOCX might be 800 KB oder more as RTF. für small text-only documents the size difference is minimal.

RTF stores all data as plain ASCII text, which creates inefficiency. Images embedded in RTF are hex-encoded (each binary byte becomes two ASCII characters), doubling their size. formatoting markup adds overhead para every character range. DOCX (a ZIP archive de comprimido XML) compresses both text y binary data. A document con embedded images that is 200 KB as DOCX might be 800 KB o more as RTF. para small text-only documents the size difference is minimal.

Round-tripping between similar formats (DOCX ↔ ODT, DOCX → PDF) is generally safe. Round-tripping with format-specific features (Word macros, complex tables, footnotes) often loses fidelity. Embedded fonts survive only if both source and target support font embedding (PDF yes, DOCX yes, plain HTML no). Always preview the result before deleting the original.

Several free options: (1) LibreOffice Writer — open the RTF file, then File → Export as PDF, or use the headless command `soffice --headless --convert-to pdf input.rtf`. (2) Pandoc — `pandoc input.rtf -o output.pdf` (requires a LaTeX engine). (3) Online converters. LibreOffice gives the most faithful rendering for complex RTF documents without requiring Microsoft Word.

Several grátis options: (1) LibreOffice Writer — abrir the RTF file, then arquivo → Export as PDF, ou usar the headless command `soffice --headless --convert-to pdf input.rtf`. (2) Pandoc — `pandoc input.rtf -o output.pdf` (requires a LaTeX engine). (3) Online converters. LibreOffice gives the most faithful rendering para complexo RTF documents sem requiring Microsoft Word.

Several kostenlos options: (1) LibreOffice Writer — öffnen the RTF file, then Datei → Export as PDF, oder verwenden the headless command `soffice --headless --convert-to pdf input.rtf`. (2) Pandoc — `pandoc input.rtf -o output.pdf` (requires a LaTeX engine). (3) Online converters. LibreOffice gives the most faithful rendering für complex RTF documents ohne requiring Microsoft Word.

Several gratis options: (1) LibreOffice Writer — abrir the RTF file, then archivo → Export as PDF, o usar the headless command `soffice --headless --convert-to pdf input.rtf`. (2) Pandoc — `pandoc input.rtf -o output.pdf` (requires a LaTeX engine). (3) Online converters. LibreOffice gives the most faithful rendering para complex RTF documents sin requiring Microsoft Word.

If the PDF contains real text (not scanned images), <code>pdftotext</code> from poppler-utils or <a href="/convert/pdf-to-txt">PDF to TXT</a> works in seconds. If the PDF is a scanned image, you need OCR — Tesseract is the open-source standard. KaijuConverter's PDF tools auto-detect text-vs-image PDFs and route accordingly.

RTF files can be dangerous — Microsoft Word and other rich text parsers have had numerous vulnerabilities in their RTF parsers over the years (CVE-2010-3333, CVE-2012-0183, CVE-2017-11826, etc.). Malformed RTF documents can trigger buffer overflows or code execution in vulnerable parsers. Always keep Word and LibreOffice up to date, and be cautious with RTF files from unknown sources. Opening in LibreOffice or TextEdit (macOS) instead of Microsoft Word can reduce exposure to Word-specific exploits.

RTF arquivos can be dangerous — Microsoft Word e other rich text parsers have had numerous vulnerabilities in their RTF parsers over the years (CVE-2010-3333, CVE-2012-0183, CVE-2017-11826, etc.). Malformed RTF documents can trigger buffer overflows ou code execution in vulnerable parsers. Always keep Word e LibreOffice up to date, e be cautious com RTF arquivos de unknown sources. abrindo in LibreOffice ou TextEdit (macOS) em vez de Microsoft Word can reduce exposure to Word-specific exploits.

RTF Dateien can be dangerous — Microsoft Word und other rich text parsers have had numerous vulnerabilities in their RTF parsers over the years (CVE-2010-3333, CVE-2012-0183, CVE-2017-11826, etc.). Malformed RTF documents can trigger buffer overflows oder code execution in vulnerable parsers. Always keep Word und LibreOffice up to date, und be cautious mit RTF Dateien von unknown sources. Opening in LibreOffice oder TextEdit (macOS) anstatt Microsoft Word can reduce exposure to Word-specific exploits.

RTF archivos can be dangerous — Microsoft Word y other rich text parsers have had numerous vulnerabilities in their RTF parsers over the years (CVE-2010-3333, CVE-2012-0183, CVE-2017-11826, etc.). Malformed RTF documents can trigger buffer overflows o code execution in vulnerable parsers. Always keep Word y LibreOffice up to date, y be cautious con RTF archivos de unknown sources. Opening in LibreOffice o TextEdit (macOS) en vez de Microsoft Word can reduce exposure to Word-specific exploits.

Light edits (annotations, signatures, form fields) are fine in any PDF reader. Structural edits (changing paragraphs, replacing images) are awkward — PDF is a presentation format, not an editing format. The robust workflow is: keep the source DOCX/MD/HTML as the master, regenerate the PDF when changes are needed. Tools that "edit PDFs" reverse-engineer the layout and frequently break it.