What is the RTF file format?
.rtf is a file extension used with text files. It was created by Microsoft in 1987 as a cross-platform document-sharing standard, now recognized by most text editors and word processors.
A document saved in .rtf format supports several formatting options, including underline, italic and bold type, different font colors and font styles. Each .rtf file can also hold embedded images or drawings. Because many word processors handle .rtf without altering the original formatting, files can be exchanged between different operating systems - such as Windows, macOS and Linux - without compatibility problems.
.rtf uses plain-text markup: every file opens with the literal ASCII characters {\rtf1, making it human-readable in a plain text editor and distinguishing it from binary formats such as .DOC or .DOCX. Formatting instructions are expressed as control words - backslash-prefixed keywords like \b for bold or \fs24 for a 24-point font size - enclosed in nested brace groups.
.rtf documents support ANSI, PC-8, Macintosh, IBM PC and Unicode character sets (Unicode support was added in version 1.6). Microsoft stopped developing .rtf in 2008 with specification version 1.9.1, but the format remains widely supported across platforms. On Windows, the default filename when creating a new file is New Rich Text Document.rtf.
Security & safety
RISK: LOWA plain RTF carries no macros, so unlike .doc/.docm it cannot run embedded VBA - that makes it relatively safe and is one reason it's used for interchange. The real, documented risk is at the PARSER level: maliciously crafted RTF files have historically been used to exploit vulnerabilities in Microsoft Word's RTF reader (e.g. embedded OLE objects, remote-template/'objupdate' tricks, and memory-corruption bugs), making RTF a recurring email-attachment attack vector. So treat an unexpected .rtf attachment with the same caution as any document: don't open it from untrusted senders, keep Office patched, and consider opening unknown ones in Google Docs/LibreOffice where Word's RTF engine isn't involved.
Format details
in a nutshellPrograms that open RTF files
Windows4 apps
WordPad
Built-in Built-in on Windows 10 and earlier (it was the default RTF editor). NOTE: removed from Windows 11 24H2 (2024) - not available on current Windows. 
Microsoft Word
Paid Double-click to open and edit; File > Save As to keep RTF or export to DOCX/PDF. Highest-fidelity option. 
LibreOffice Writer
Open-source Free, full word processor; open the .rtf to read/edit and Save As RTF, DOCX or PDF. The best free desktop choice. 
macOS3 apps
TextEdit
Built-in Built into macOS and uses RTF as a native format; double-click the .rtf to view and edit. 
Linux1 app
LibreOffice Writer
Open-source Pre-installed on most distros; double-click to open and edit .rtf, export to PDF/DOCX. 
Android2 apps
OfficeSuite
Freemium Opens and edits .rtf on Android (the old 'OfficeSuite Viewer/Professional' is now just OfficeSuite). 
Google Docs
Free Upload the .rtf to Google Drive and open with Google Docs to view/edit; download as DOCX or PDF afterwards. Technical details
deep spec| MIME type | application/rtf |
| File signature | `{\rtf1` at byte offset 0 - a literal ASCII string, not a binary magic number |
| Format type | Plain-text markup; control words are ASCII keywords prefixed with a backslash (e.g., `\b` for bold, `\fs24` for 24 pt font size) |
| Group delimiters | Nested groups enclosed in `{` `}` braces; the entire document is wrapped in one top-level group |
| Character set support | ANSI, PC-8, Macintosh and IBM PC code pages; Unicode via `\u` control word, added in version 1.6 |
| Font handling | Fonts declared in a `\fonttbl` group and referenced by numeric index throughout the document |
| Color model | RGB values listed in a `\colortbl` group; text and background colors referenced by table index |
| Image embedding | Images stored as hex-encoded data in `\pict` groups; supported formats include WMF, EMF, BMP, JPEG and PNG |
| Table support | Tables defined row-by-row using `\trowd`, `\cellx` (column widths) and `\cell` control words |
| Metadata | Document information stored in an `\info` group: title, author, subject, keywords, creation and revision dates |
| OLE object embedding | Supports embedded OLE objects via the `\object` group - a documented historic attack surface exploited by malware |
| Paragraph formatting | Indents, alignment, line spacing and tab stops set by `\pard` and related control words; `\pard` resets all paragraph properties to default |
| Binary data encoding | Binary content such as images is represented as a sequence of hexadecimal digit pairs within `\pict` groups, keeping the file entirely human-readable |
| Compression | None natively; hex-encoding of binary data makes `.rtf` files considerably larger than equivalent [.DOCX](/format/docx) files |
| Released | 1987 (RTF 1.0, Microsoft); last specification version 1.9.1 in 2008 |
| Open standard | Yes · royalty-free |
| Specification | learn.microsoft.com |
RTF conversions
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