RTF stands for “Rich Text Format” and is therefore the file extension used to store formatted text documents for the purpose of transferring it from one platform to another. RTF is a file extension developed by Microsoft Corporation in the late 80’s, yet it is still popular nowadays and has in fact released its newest updates in version 1.9.1.
Files with an RTF file extension primarily contains not only the document’s text but also some additional control codes which helps in classifying the file type and indicating the formatting features that a different program (not the one used to create the file) may need to open and modify the document. Some of these formatting features are the normal formatting that we use in word processing programs like font face, font colors and font sizes, justifications, underlined and italicized texts and many more. Aside from formatting, an RTF file may also include embedded objects like PDF files that can be activated and displayed using the correct program.
The RTF file extension however does not support numerous features that more sophisticated word processing file extensions has to offer, like DOC, the advantage of RTF is that it is stored in ASCII format, not in binary format. This means that a user can view and read a content of an RTF file using any simple text editor because the contents are stored in plain text. Another advantage of RTF is that it was developed to be cross-platform compatible which means it can be transferred among different programs on Windows, Mac and UNIX without the need to change the extension into something else. Below is the list of programs that can be used to view and even modify the contents of an RTF file:
| Mac OS | Apple TextEdit
Apple Pages Microsoft Word 2011 Nuance OmniPage Pro X Any text editor that supports formatted text |
| Windows | Microsoft WordPad
Microsoft Word 2010 Corel WordPerfect Office X5 Nuance OmniPage 18 Any text editor that supports formatted text |
