RTF (Rich Text Format)
RTF is a cross-platform document format that supports basic text formatting — bold, italic, fonts, colors, tables, and images. It was designed as an interchange format readable by virtually every word processor, making it useful for sharing formatted text without compatibility issues.
MIME Type
application/rtf
Type
Text
Compression
Lossless
Advantages
- + Opens in virtually every word processor on every platform
- + Human-readable plain-text markup
- + Smaller attack surface than macro-enabled formats
- + Good for basic formatting: fonts, colors, tables, and lists
Disadvantages
- − No support for advanced features like styles, revision tracking, or charts
- − Larger file sizes than compressed DOCX for equivalent content
- − Declining usage as DOCX and PDF dominate document sharing
When to Use .RTF
Use RTF when you need formatted text that opens in any word processor without layout issues — simple letters, notes, and cross-platform drafts.
Technical Details
RTF is a plain-text format using control words prefixed with backslashes (e.g., \b for bold). Groups are enclosed in curly braces. The format supports embedded images as hex-encoded data within the text stream.
History
Microsoft developed RTF in 1987 as a universal document interchange format. The specification went through multiple revisions, with version 1.9.1 (2008) being the last official update.