txt2tags File Format (.t2t)

A T2T file holds txt2tags source, Aurelio Jargas' 2001 lightweight markup that its own command-line tool compiles into HTML, LaTeX, MediaWiki, DokuWiki and a dozen other target formats from one source file.

.t2tDocuments

txt2tags at a glance#

Full name	txt2tags markup
File extension	.t2t
Category	Documents
Developer	Aurelio Jargas
First released	2001
Compression	Uncompressed
FileFlip support	FileFlip reads this format but does not write it

What a .t2t file can hold#

These are the things a txt2tags file either supports or does not, and they are what decides whether a conversion keeps everything or quietly drops something.

Selectable text	Yes
Human readable	Yes
Comments	Yes

Strengths and limitations of txt2tags#

What txt2tags does well

One source file targets HTML, LaTeX, MediaWiki, DokuWiki, man pages and more from a single command
Syntax is close to Markdown's, ** for bold, // for italics, so it's quick to pick up
The command-line tool has needed little rework since 2001, so old .t2t files still compile with a current install

Where txt2tags falls short

Development has slowed to occasional maintenance releases, most recently version 3.9 in 2023
Almost no editor or renderer other than the txt2tags tool itself understands the format directly
Markdown has taken over the one-source, many-targets niche txt2tags originally filled

Use txt2tags for a document that needs to compile to several very different output formats from one plain-text source.

Convert a T2T file to Markdown when the txt2tags tool itself is no longer part of the workflow.

How to open a .t2t file#

A .t2t file opens in the programs below, grouped by the platform you are on. If you would rather not install anything, FileFlip converts txt2tags into a format your machine already opens, and it does it in the browser tab rather than on a server.

Platform	Programs that open it
Windows	txt2tags (command line, via Python), VS Code
macOS	txt2tags (command line), VS Code
Linux	txt2tags (command line), vim, gedit
Web	FileFlip

txt2tags questions people ask#

What is a T2T file?

A T2T file holds txt2tags source, a lightweight plain-text markup created by Aurelio Jargas in 2001. It's meant to be compiled, not opened directly, since the txt2tags command-line tool turns one .t2t file into whichever output format the document actually needs.

What formats can txt2tags convert to?

txt2tags compiles a single .t2t source file to HTML, LaTeX, MediaWiki, DokuWiki, man pages, and several other targets, which is the whole point of the format: write once, generate whichever output a given publishing destination needs.

Is txt2tags still maintained?

Yes, though slowly. txt2tags reached version 3.9 in October 2023 under maintainer Jendrik Seipp, well over two decades after Aurelio Jargas' original 2001 release, and the format itself has changed very little in that time.

Converting txt2tags files#

FileFlip does not write .t2t files, so nothing on the site converts into this format. It works as a source only.

Every conversion runs inside your browser. The file is read from your disk, the work happens on your own machine, and nothing is uploaded. How FileFlip works names the engine behind each family and how to verify that for yourself.