RTF Converter
FileFlip converts RTF files into 61 other formats entirely inside your browser, using Pandoc, MuPDF and ImageMagick compiled to WebAssembly. The RTF file is never uploaded to a server: it is read off your disk, converted on your own machine, and saved back by the browser. There is no file-size limit and no account to create.
How do I convert an RTF file?#
- Drop your RTF file onto the converter at the top of this page, or click it to pick one from your computer.
- Choose the format you want out of it. FileFlip downloads the engine that conversion needs, once, and your browser caches it.
- Conversion starts the moment you pick the format, and the result is yours to download. The work happens in this tab, so nothing is uploaded and nothing is queued.
Is it safe to convert RTF files online?#
Yes, because nothing is uploaded. FileFlip converts RTF files inside the browser tab you already have open, using WebAssembly builds of the same engines a desktop converter would install. Your file is read from your own disk into the page's memory, and no request carrying it is ever made.
You do not have to take that on trust. Open your browser's network panel, run a conversion, and you will see the engine come down and your file go nowhere. There is no upload, no server-side copy, no retention window, and no account tied to what you converted.
How FileFlip works lists every engine, its version and its download size, and shows how to check for yourself that nothing leaves your machine.
What happens to a RTF file#
FileFlip converts RTF into 61 formats with Pandoc, MuPDF and ImageMagick, all of it inside the browser tab. Each conversion below names the engine it uses, what it downloads, and exactly what that conversion keeps or drops.
| Category | Documents |
|---|---|
| File extension | .rtf |
| FileFlip support | Read and written |
| Conversions available | 61 |
| Engines | Pandoc, MuPDF and ImageMagick |
| Downloaded to your browser | 65.8 MB on the first conversion, then cached |
What is an RTF file?#
An RTF file encodes styled text as plain ASCII, using backslash control words like \b and \par instead of binary formatting codes, a design Microsoft published in 1987 specifically so word processors that agreed on nothing else could still exchange formatted documents.
Use RTF to move styled text between word processors from different vendors or eras that don't reliably agree on any other format.
Convert RTF to DOCX or ODT once the document has landed somewhere permanent, since both produce far smaller files and support formatting features RTF was never updated to include.
The RTF file format reference covers the specification, the programs that open one, and what each conversion keeps or drops.
RTF questions people ask#
Does Windows still have a built-in program that opens RTF files?
Not since Windows 11, version 24H2: Microsoft removed WordPad, the built-in RTF editor, after announcing its deprecation in 2023. Microsoft Word and LibreOffice Writer still open RTF files on Windows, and Notepad opens one too, but only as raw text with the control words visible rather than rendered formatting.
Why are RTF files so much larger than DOCX files with the same text?
RTF applies no compression at all, while DOCX is a ZIP archive that compresses its XML. RTF also stores embedded images as hexadecimal text rather than raw bytes, which roughly doubles their size again, so a document with pictures grows especially large as an RTF file.
Can I open an RTF file in a plain text editor?
Yes, an RTF file is plain ASCII, so any text editor opens it without error. What you'll see, though, is the raw backslash control words like \b and \fs24 mixed in with the text rather than bold text or a font size, since RTF was designed to be parsed by an application, not read directly by a person.
What's the difference between RTF and DOCX?
RTF is a flat, uncompressed text format Microsoft introduced in 1987 and stopped updating in 2008. DOCX is a ZIP archive of XML introduced with Word 2007, is substantially smaller for the same content, and supports every Word feature added since RTF was frozen.