Everything you need to know about RTF
RTF (Rich Text Format, .rtf) is Microsoft's pre-XML rich text format from 1987 - readable, hand-editable text with embedded formatting commands. It's the format that survived because every operating system can open it, even decades-old systems with no current Word installation.
How it works under the hood
- Curly-brace syntax. RTF wraps content in `{...}` groups with backslash-escaped commands: `{\b bold text}`, `{\i italic}`, `{\u8226 \'95 bullet}`.
- ASCII safe. Every character must be ASCII. Non-ASCII text is escaped as `\u<codepoint>?`. This makes RTF email-safe but verbose.
- Not a binary blob. Unlike DOC, you can read RTF in any text editor and reverse-engineer the formatting.
- Limited features. No charts, no tables of contents, no real graphics support. RTF was designed when 'rich text' meant bold and underline.
Where you'll actually use it
- Cross-platform document exchange before DOCX/PDF dominated
- TextEdit on macOS (default rich text format)
- Compatibility fallback when DOCX isn't trusted
- Programmatic document generation where you need bold/italic but no advanced layout
How it compares to alternatives
RTF vs DOCX: DOCX has tables, charts, comments, track changes. RTF has bold and italic. Use DOCX. RTF vs PDF: PDF is final-form; RTF is editable. RTF vs HTML: HTML is what RTF wished it could be.
Things that will trip you up
- RTF parsers vary wildly in completeness - your fancy table layout from Word won't render in TextEdit
- Embedded objects (Excel charts, images) often appear as broken placeholders in non-Microsoft tools
- RTF is a known malware vector via embedded OLE objects - don't trust RTF attachments from strangers
Test it yourself: TextEdit on macOS, WordPad on Windows, LibreOffice on Linux. Pandoc converts RTF to/from many formats. Don't use it for new projects - prefer DOCX or HTML.