RTF File Extension

Text Files

A very basic text file is called a plain text file. This can be opened by any text editor. The simplest text editor available on a PC is Notepad. Notepad can read plain text files and nothing else. Plain text is written in ASCII characters with no fonts, or effects like bold typeface, underlining or italics. One step up from plain text is rich text, which includes these basic presentation elements.

WordPad is an editor specifically written to handle RTF files and is shipped free with Windows. The relevance of Windows-based editors stems from the fact that the RTF format was invented by Microsoft, which still holds the patent for the system. WordPad is the simplest program able to handle RTF files. The intention of the format's creators was to provide a neutral format for exchanging files between different brands of word processors.

The RTF file, in its raw state, is legible. The contents of the file are held in plain text with tags (also written in plain text) denoting where font effects have been applied. Microsoft continued to develop the format since its initial release in 1987, making several revisions and versions. The company ensured that its definition of RTF kept pace with its development of its Word software, which could save its output to RTF files. Since the release of Word 2010, however, the link has been broken, and Microsoft announced that it will no longer update the RTF specification.

As it is considered a neutral format that can be read by any word processing package, RTF is used to distribute documents to a wide range of people, for purposes such as surveys or academic documents. The key element that encourages the use of RTF is that its contents can be changed in a word processor. Those wishing to distribute information that they do not want to be edited might instead produce the document in the PDF format.