View source for Rich Text Format

{{Short description|Document file format developed by Microsoft}}
{{distinguish|Enriched text|Rich text}}
{{original research|date=April 2012}}
{{Infobox file format
| name                   = Rich Text Format
| icon                   = 
| logo                   = 
| screenshot             = 
| caption                = 
| extension              = <code>.rtf</code>
| mime                   = text/rtf<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/text/ |title=Text Media Types |publisher=iana.org |date=1993-06-08 |access-date=2010-03-13}}</ref><br />application/rtf<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/application/rtf |title=Application Media Types |publisher=iana.org |date=2007-06-18 |access-date=2010-08-20}}</ref>
| type code              = <code>'RTF.'</code><ref name="rtf16">{{cite web |url=http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa140280(office.10).aspx |title=Rich Text Format (RTF) Specification, version 1.6 |author=Microsoft Corporation |date=May 1999 |access-date=2010-03-13}}</ref><ref name="rtf18">{{cite web |url=http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=AC57DE32-17F0-4B46-9E4E-467EF9BC5540&displaylang=en |title=Word 2003: Rich Text Format (RTF) Specification, version 1.8 |author=Microsoft Corporation |website=[[Microsoft]] |date=2004-04-20 |access-date=2010-03-13}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://arstechnica.com/apple/reviews/2005/04/macosx-10-4.ars/11 |title=Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger&nbsp;– File types revisited |author=John Siracusa |date=2005-04-28 |access-date=2010-03-13}}</ref>
| uniform type           = public.rtf
| magic                  = <code>{\rtf</code>
| owner                  = [[Microsoft]]
| released               = {{Start date and age|1987}}
| latest release version = 1.9.1
| latest release date    = {{Start date and age|2008|03|19|df=yes}}
| genre                  = [[Document file format]]
| container for          = 
| contained by           = 
| extended from          = 
| extended to            = 
| standard               = 
| open                   = [[#History|No]]
| url                    = 
}}
The '''Rich Text Format''' (often abbreviated '''RTF''') is a [[Proprietary format|proprietary]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://accessproject.colostate.edu/udl/modules/word/tut_rtf.cfm |title=tutorial: Rich Text Format (RTF) |quote=Like “.doc,” RTF is a proprietary file format, but it has been designed to be more widely compatible and transferable. |publisher=Colorado State University |access-date=2010-03-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120630142357/http://accessproject.colostate.edu/udl/modules/word/tut_rtf.cfm |archive-date=2012-06-30 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="e-gov-uk">{{cite web |url=http://cabinetoffice.gov.uk/e-government/resources/handbook/html/4-3.asp |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20070402094640/cabinetoffice.gov.uk/e-government/resources/handbook/html/4-3.asp |url-status=dead |archive-date=2007-04-02 |title=4.3 Non-HTML file formats |quote=There are many different revisions of Microsoft's proprietary Rich Text Format and portability of files will depend on what version of RTF is being used. |publisher=e-Government Unit |date=May 2002 |access-date=2010-03-13}}</ref><ref name="e-gov-uk-archived">{{cite web |url=http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/e-government/resources/handbook/html/4-3.asp  |title=4.3 Non-HTML file formats (archived site) |quote=There are many different revisions of Microsoft's proprietary Rich Text Format and portability of files will depend on what version of RTF is being used. |author=e-Government Unit |date=May 2002 |access-date=2011-01-12 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070321013005/http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/e-government/resources/handbook/html/4-3.asp |archive-date = 2007-03-21}}</ref> [[document file format]] with published specification developed by [[Microsoft Corporation]] from 1987 until 2008 for [[cross-platform]] document interchange with Microsoft products. Prior to 2008, Microsoft published updated specifications for RTF with major revisions of [[Microsoft Word]] and [[Microsoft Office|Office]] versions.

Most [[word processor]]s are able to read and write some versions of RTF.<ref name="seniortechcenter">{{cite web|url=http://www.seniortechcenter.org/desktop_publishing/rich_text_format.php |title=Benefits of Rich Text Format (RTF)|work=Desktop Publishing, Presentations & Word Processing|publisher=ETR Associates |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080323033333/http://www.seniortechcenter.org/desktop_publishing/rich_text_format.php |archive-date = 2008-03-23}}</ref> There are several different revisions of RTF specification; portability of files will depend on what version of RTF is being used.<ref name="e-gov-uk" /><ref name="rtf-cookbook">{{cite web |url=https://metacpan.org/pod/release/SBURKE/RTF-Writer-1.11/lib/RTF/Cookbook.pod |title=Sean M. Burke&nbsp;– RTF-Writer&nbsp;– The RTF Cookbook |access-date=2025-11-16}}</ref>

RTF should not be confused with [[enriched text]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1896 |title=The text/enriched MIME Content-type |first1=P. |last1=Resnick |first2=A. |last2=Walker |date=February 1996 }}</ref> or its predecessor Rich Text,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1341 |title=MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions): Mechanisms for Specifying and Describing the Format of Internet Message Bodies |first1=N. |last1=Borenstein |first2=N. |last2=Freed |date=June 1992 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1521 |title=MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part One: Mechanisms for Specifying and Describing the Format of Internet Message Bodies |first1=N. |last1=Borenstein |first2=N. |last2=Freed |date=September 1993 }}</ref> or with IBM's [[RFT-DCA]] (Revisable Format Text-Document Content Architecture), as these are different specifications.

==History==
[[Richard Brodie (programmer)|Richard Brodie]], [[Charles Simonyi]], and David Luebbert, members of the [[Microsoft Word]] development team, developed the original RTF in the middle to late 1980s. The first RTF reader and writer shipped in 1987 as part of Microsoft Word 3.0 for [[classic Mac OS|Macintosh]], which implemented the RTF version 1.0 specification. All subsequent releases of Microsoft Word for Macintosh, as well as all Windows versions, can read and write in RTF format.

Microsoft maintains RTF. The final version was 1.9.1 in 2008, which implemented features of [[Office 2007]]. Microsoft has discontinued enhancements to the RTF specification, so features new to Word 2010 or a later version will not save properly to RTF.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/office/office-2010/cc179199(v%3doffice.14)|title=Changes in Word 2010 (for IT pros|first=Niveditha Narva (Beyondsoft Consulting|last=Inc)|website=docs.microsoft.com}}</ref> Microsoft anticipates no further updates to RTF, but has stated willingness to consider editorial and other non-substantive modifications of the RTF Specification during an associated [[ISO/IEC 29500]] balloting period.<ref>{{citation |url=http://kikaku.itscj.ipsj.or.jp/sc34/wg4/archive/sc34-wg4-2011-0184.zip |title=GS26 RS Referencing Explanatory Report (RER) for DR 10-0017, General: missing normative reference, for RTF |author=Microsoft |format=PDF |date=2011-03-17 |access-date=2011-04-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140512231641/http://kikaku.itscj.ipsj.or.jp/sc34/wg4/archive/sc34-wg4-2011-0184.zip |archive-date=2014-05-12 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

RTF files were used to produce [[Windows Help]] files, though these have since been superseded by [[Microsoft Compiled HTML Help]] files.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+RTF specifications for Microsoft Word<ref>{{cite web |url=http://support.microsoft.com/kb/924944 |title=Information about the Rich Text Format (RTF) version specifications for various versions of Word |date=2007-02-21 |access-date=2010-03-13}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.robweir.com/blog/2007/12/those-who-forget-santayana.html |title=Those who forget Santayana… |publisher=Rob Weir |date=2007-12-20 |access-date=2010-03-13}}</ref>
|-
! | RTF version
! | Publication date
! | Microsoft Word version
! | MS Word release date
! Notes
|-
! 1.0
| 1987
| Microsoft Word 3
| 1987
| The latest revision came in June 1992.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.snake.net/software/RTF/Old/RTF-Spec-1.0.rtf |format=RTF |title=Rich-Text Format (RTF) Specification&nbsp;– RTF Version 1.0 |author=Microsoft Corporation |access-date=2010-03-13 |archive-date=2020-08-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806193351/http://www.snake.net/software/RTF/Old/RTF-Spec-1.0.rtf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="rtf10-txt">{{citation |url=https://latex2rtf.sourceforge.net/RTF-Spec-1.0.txt |format=TXT |title=Microsoft Product Support Services Application Note (Text File)&nbsp;– GC0165: Rich-Text Format (RTF) Specification |author=Microsoft Corporation |date=June 1992 |access-date=2010-03-13}}</ref> The 1992 revision defined support for Microsoft [[Object Linking and Embedding]] (OLE) objects and Macintosh Edition Manager subscriber objects. It also supported inclusion of the [[Windows Metafile]], [[PICT]], Windows device-dependent bitmap, Windows device-independent bitmap and [[OS/2]] Metafile image types in RTF.
|-
! 1.1
|
| Microsoft Word 4
| 1989
| Allowed for [[font embedding]], which lets font data to be located inside the file.
|-
! 1.2
| 1993
| Microsoft Word 5
| 1991
|<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.snake.net/software/RTF/Old/RTF-Spec-1.2.rtf |format=RTF |title=Rich Text Format Specification v. 1.2 |author=Microsoft Corporation |access-date=2010-03-13 |archive-date=2011-07-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724071815/http://www.snake.net/software/RTF/Old/RTF-Spec-1.2.rtf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{citation |url=https://latex2rtf.sourceforge.net/RTF-Spec-1.2.pdf |title=Rich Text Format Specification v. 1.2 |access-date=2010-03-13}}</ref>
|-
! 1.3
| January 1994
| Microsoft Word 6
| 1993
| 1/94 GC0165; for device-independence and interoperability, encouraged embedding bitmaps within [[Windows Metafile]]s,<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.snake.net/software/RTF/RTF-Spec-1.3.rtf |format=RTF |title=Rich Text Format (RTF) Specification&nbsp;– RTF Version 1.3 |author=Microsoft Corporation |date=January 1994 |access-date=2010-03-13 |archive-date=2011-07-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724071848/http://www.snake.net/software/RTF/RTF-Spec-1.3.rtf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{citation |url=https://latex2rtf.sourceforge.net/RTF-Spec-1.3.txt |format=TXT |title=Rich Text Format (RTF) Specification&nbsp;– RTF Version 1.3 |author=Microsoft Corporation |date=January 1994 |access-date=2010-03-13}}</ref> instead of using Windows device-independent [[bitmap]]s or Windows device-dependent bitmaps. 
|-
! 1.4
| September 1995
| Microsoft Word 95/Word 7
| 1995
|<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.faqs.org/faqs/graphics/fileformats-faq/part3/section-127.html |title=RTF&nbsp;– Rich Text Format |author=Microsoft Corporation |access-date=2010-03-13}}</ref>
|-
! 1.5
| April 1997
| Microsoft Word 97/Word 8
| 1997
| Introduced [[Unicode]] RTF, which supports 16-bit Unicode character encoding scheme; defined inclusion of [[Portable Network Graphics|PNG]], [[JPEG]] and [[Enhanced Metafile|EMF]] picture types in hexadecimal (the default) or binary format in a RTF file.<ref name="rtf15" /> Also contained a Japanese local RTF specification called RTF-J for the Japanese version of Word; RTF-J is somewhat different from the standard RTF specification.<ref name="rtf15">{{cite web |url=https://www.biblioscape.com/rtf15_spec.htm |title=Rich Text Format (RTF) Version 1.5 Specification |author=Microsoft Corporation |access-date=2010-03-13}}</ref>
|-
! 1.6
| May 1999
| Microsoft Word 2000/Word 9
| 1999
| Included Pocket Word and Exchange (used in RTF-HTML conversions).<ref name="rtf16"/>
|-
! 1.7
| August 2001
| Microsoft Word 2002/Word 10
| 2001
| 8/2001– Word 2002 RTF Specification<ref name="rtf17web">{{citation|url=http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?familyid=E5B8EBC2-6AD6-49F0-8C90-E4F763E3F04F&displaylang=en |title=Word 2002 Tool: Rich Text Format Specification |access-date=2012-09-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101112181441/http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?familyid=E5B8EBC2-6AD6-49F0-8C90-E4F763E3F04F&displaylang=en |archive-date=November 12, 2010 }}</ref><ref name="rtf17">{{citation |url=http://download.microsoft.com/download/Word2002/Install/1.7/W98NT42KMeXP/EN-US/W2KRTFSF.exe |format=EXE (ZIP) |title=Word 2002 Tool: Rich Text Format Specification&nbsp;– 8/2001– Word 2002 RTF Specification |author=Microsoft Corporation |date=2001-08-31 |access-date=2010-03-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610142625/http://download.microsoft.com/download/Word2002/Install/1.7/W98NT42KMeXP/EN-US/W2KRTFSF.exe |archive-date=2016-06-10 }}</ref>
|-
! 1.8
| April 2004
| Microsoft Word 2003/Word 11
| 2003
| 10/2003– Word 2003 RTF Specification<ref name="rtf18" />
|-
! 1.9.1
| 19. March 2008 <br />(RTF 1.9&nbsp;– published in January 2007)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://coolthingoftheday.blogspot.com/2007/01/rtf-19-specification-word-2007.html |title=RTF 1.9 Specification (Word 2007) |publisher=Greg Duncan |date=2007-01-09 |access-date=2010-03-13}}</ref>
| Microsoft Word 2007/Word 12
| 2006
| Allowed [[XML]] markup&nbsp;– Custom XML Tags, [[Smart tag (Microsoft)|SmartTags]], Math elements in an RTF document, password protection, elements corresponding to [[Office Open XML]] Ecma-376 Part 4<ref name="rtf191">{{cite web |url=https://interoperability.blob.core.windows.net/files/Archive_References/%5bMSFT-RTF%5d.pdf |title=Word 2007: Rich Text Format (RTF) Specification, version 1.9.1 |author=Microsoft Corporation |date=2008-03-20 |access-date=2020-02-18 |archive-date=2019-07-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190708132914/http://www.kleinlercher.at/tools/Windows_Protocols/Word2007RTFSpec9.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|}

== Code syntax ==
It is programmed using groups, a backslash, a control word and a delimiter.  Groups are contained within curly braces ({}) and indicate which attributes should be applied to certain text.

The backslash (\) introduces a control word, which is a specifically programmed command for RTF.  Control words can have certain states in which they are active. These states are represented by numbers.  For example,

; {{code|\b0}}   :   indicates that the Bold text is off
; {{code|\b1}}   :   indicates that the Bold text is on
; {{code|\i0}}   :   indicates that the Italic text is off
; {{code|\i1}}   :   indicates that the Italic text is on
; {{code|\ul0}}   :   indicates that the Underline text is off
; {{code|\ul1}}   :   indicates that the Underline text is on
; {{code|\sub0}}   :   indicates that the Subscript text is off
; {{code|\sub1}}   :   indicates that the Subscript text is on
; {{code|\superscript0}}   :   indicates that the Superscript text is off
; {{code|\superscript1}}   :   indicates that the Superscript text is on

A delimiter is one of three things:

# A space
# A digit or hyphen (e.g. -23, 23, 275)
# A character other than a digit or letter (e.g. \, /, }) <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.biblioscape.com/rtf15_spec.htm|title=Rich Text Format (RTF) Version 1.5 Specification|website=www.biblioscape.com}}</ref>

As an example, the following RTF code
<syntaxhighlight lang="tex">
 {\rtf1\ansi{\fonttbl\f0\fswiss Helvetica;}\f0\pard
 This is some {\b bold} text.\par
 }
</syntaxhighlight>
would be rendered as follows:

<blockquote style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">
This is some '''bold''' text.</blockquote>

==Character encoding==

A standard RTF file can only consist of 7-bit [[ASCII]] characters, but can use [[escape sequence]]s to encode other characters.<ref name="Microsoft RTF Syntax">{{citation |url=http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa140284(office.10).aspx |title=Microsoft RTF Syntax}}</ref> The two character escapes are [[code page]] escapes and, starting with RTF 1.5, [[Unicode]] escapes. In a code page escape, two [[hexadecimal]] digits following a backslash and [[typewriter apostrophe]] denote a character taken from a Windows code page. For example, if the code page is set to [[Windows-1256]]<!-- this does not require control codes, it may be a system or application default -->, the sequence <code>\'c8</code> will encode the Arabic letter ''bāʼ'' ب. It is also possible to specify a "Character Set" in the preamble of the RTF document and associate it to a header. For example, the preamble has the text <code>\f3\fnil\fcharset128</code>, then, in the body of the document, the text <code>\f3\'bd\'f0</code> will represent the code point <code>0xbd 0xf0 </code> from the Character Set 128 (which corresponds to the [[Shift-JIS]] code page), which encodes "金".

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="white-space: nowrap;"
|-
! RTF Character Set !! Code Page !! Description
|-
| 0 ||[[Windows-1252]]|| Latin alphabet, Western Europe / Americas
|-
| 1 || 0 || Default Windows API code page for system locale
|-
| 2 || 42 || Symbol ([[Private Use Area|PUA-mapped]])<ref>{{cite web |url=http://archives.miloush.net/michkap/archive/2005/11/08/490495.html |last=Kaplan |first=Michael S |title=More than you ever wanted to know about CP_SYMBOL |work=Sorting It All Out |date=2005-11-08}}</ref> character set
|-
|77
|2
|Default Macintosh-compatibility code page for system locale
|-
|128
|[[Code page 932 (Microsoft Windows)|Windows-932]]
|Japanese, [[Shift JIS]] (Windows version)
|-
|129
|[[Windows-949]]
|Korean, Unified Hangul Code (extended Wansung)
|-
|130
|[[Code page 1361|Windows-1361]]
|Korean, [[Johab]] (ASCII-based version)
|-
|134
|[[Code page 936 (Microsoft Windows)|Windows-936]]
|Chinese, [[GBK (character encoding)|GBK]] (extended [[GB 2312]])
|-
|136
|[[Windows-950]]
|Chinese, [[Big5]]
|-
|161
|[[Windows-1253]]
|Greek
|-
|162
|[[Windows-1254]]
|Latin alphabet, Turkish
|-
|163
|[[Windows-1258]]
|Latin alphabet, Vietnamese
|-
|177
|[[Windows-1255]]
|Hebrew
|-
|178
|[[Windows-1256]]
|Arabic
|-
|186
|[[Windows-1257]]
|Baltic
|-
|204
|[[Windows-1251]]
|Cyrillic
|-
|238
|[[Windows-1250]]
|Latin alphabet, Eastern Europe
|-
|255
|1
|Default [[Windows OEM character set|OEM code page]] for system locale
|}

For a Unicode escape, the control word <code>\u</code> is used, followed by a 16-bit signed integer which corresponds to the Unicode UTF-16 code unit number. For the benefit of programs without Unicode support, this must be followed by the nearest representation of this character in the specified code page. For example, <code>\u1576?</code> would give the Arabic letter ''bāʼ'' ب, but indicates that older programs which do not support Unicode should render it as a question mark instead.

The control word <code>\uc0</code> can be used to indicate that subsequent Unicode escape sequences within the current group do not specify the substitution character.

Until RTF specification version 1.5 release in 1997, RTF only handled 7-bit characters directly and 8-bit characters encoded as hexadecimal (using <code>\'xx</code>). Since RTF 1.5, however, RTF control words generally accept signed 16-bit numbers as arguments. Unicode values greater than 32767 must be expressed as negative numbers.<ref name="rtf15" /> If a Unicode character is [[Unicode plane|outside BMP]], it is encoded with a surrogate pair. Support for Unicode was made due to text handling changes in Microsoft Word – Microsoft Word 97 is a partially Unicode-enabled application and it handles text using the [[UTF-16|16-bit Unicode character encoding scheme]].<ref name="rtf15" /> Microsoft Word 2000 and later versions are Unicode-enabled applications that handle text using the 16-bit Unicode character encoding scheme.<ref name="rtf16" />

Because RTF files are usually 7-bit ASCII [[plain text]], they can be easily transmitted between PC-based operating systems. Converters that communicate with Microsoft Word for MS Windows or Macintosh generally expect data transfer as 8-bit characters and binary data which can contain any 8-bit values.<ref name="rtf191" />

==Human readability==
RTF is a data format for saving and sharing documents, not a [[markup language]]; it is not intended for intuitive and easy typing.<ref name="rtf-pocket-guide" /><ref name="rtf-pocket-scribd">{{citation |url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/15490806/RTF-Pocket-Guide-by-OReilly-Media |title=RTF Pocket Guide by O'Reilly Media  |access-date=2010-03-13}}</ref> Nonetheless, unlike many word processing formats, RTF code can be [[human-readable]]. When an RTF file containing mostly Latin characters without [[diacritic]]s is viewed as a plain text file, the underlying ASCII text is readable, provided that the author has kept formatting concise.

When RTF was released, most word processors used binary file formats; Microsoft Word, for example, used the [[Doc (computing)|.DOC]] file format. RTF was unique in its simple formatting control which allowed non-RTF aware programs like [[Microsoft Notepad]] to open and provide readable files. Today, most word processors have moved to XML-based file formats (Word has switched to the [[.docx]] file format). Regardless, these files contain large amounts of formatting code, so are often ten or more times larger than the corresponding plain text.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://interglacial.com/rtf/ |title=Rich Text Format&nbsp;– MSWord generates some scary RTF |date=2008-07-12 |author=Sean M. Burke |access-date=2010-03-13}}</ref><ref name="rtf-pocket-guide" />

To be standard-compliant RTF, non-ASCII characters must be escaped. Thus, even with concise formatting, text that uses certain dashes and quotation marks is less legible. Latin languages with many [[diacritic]]s are particularly difficult to read in RTF, as they result in substitutions like \'f1 for [[ñ]] and \'e9 for [[é]].  Non-Latin scripts are illegible in RTF — \u21563, for example, is used for [[CJK characters|吻]]. From the beginning, RTF has also supported Microsoft [[Object Linking and Embedding|OLE]] embedded objects and Macintosh Edition Manager subscriber objects, which are not human-readable.

==Common uses and interoperability==
Most word processing software support either RTF format importing and exporting for some RTF specification or direct editing, which makes it a "common" format between otherwise incompatible word processing software and operating systems. Most applications that read RTF files silently ignore unknown RTF control words.<ref name="ted-rtf" /> These factors contribute to its [[interoperability]], though it is still dependent on the specific RTF version in use.<ref name="e-gov-uk" /> There are several consciously designed or accidentally born RTF dialects.<ref name="ted-rtf">{{cite web |url=http://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/editors/ted/TedDocument-en_US.html |title=Ted, an easy rich text processor |author=Mark de Does |date=2009-10-23 |access-date=2010-03-13}}</ref>

RTF is the internal markup language used by Microsoft Word.<ref name="rtf-pocket-guide">{{cite web |url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/product-description/0596004753/ref=dp_proddesc_0/277-8520360-9056562?ie=UTF8&n=266239&s=books |title=RTF Pocket Guide |author=Sean M. Burke |website=Amazon UK |date=July 2003 |access-date=2010-03-13}}</ref> Since 1987, RTF files have been able to be transferred back and forth between many old and new computer systems (and now over the Internet), despite differences between operating systems and their versions. This makes it a useful format for basic formatted text documents such as instruction manuals, résumés, letters, and modest information documents. These documents, at minimum, support bold, italic and underline text formatting.  Also typically supported are left-, center- and right-aligned text, font specification and document margins.

Font and margin defaults, style presets and other functions vary according to program defaults.  There may also be incompatibilities between different RTF versions, e.g. between RTF 1.0 1987 and later specifications, or between RTF 1.0–1.4 and RTF 1.5+ in use of Unicode characters.<ref name="wordperfect-dos">{{cite web |url=http://www.columbia.edu/~em36/wpdos/wordtowpdos.html |title=How to Import Microsoft Word Files into WordPerfect for DOS |access-date=2010-03-13}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.abiword.org/help/en-US/info/infoformats.html |title=Abiword Help&nbsp;– File Formats |access-date=2010-03-13}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mackichan.com/index.html?techtalk/v30/30ts79.htm~mainFrame |title=Opening Rich Text Format (RTF) files  |access-date=2010-03-13}}</ref>  And though RTF supports metadata like title and author, not all implementations support this. Nevertheless, the RTF format is consistent enough to be considered highly portable and acceptable for [[cross-platform]] use.

===Objects===
Microsoft Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) objects and Macintosh Edition Manager subscriber objects allow embedding of other files inside the RTF, such as tables or charts from spreadsheet application. However, since these objects are not widely supported in programs for viewing or editing RTF files, they also limit RTF's interoperability.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.linux.com/news/foss-word-processors-compared-ooo-writer-abiword-and-kword/ |title=FOSS word processors compared: OOo Writer, AbiWord, and KWord |first= Bruce |last= Byfield |website=Linux.com |publisher=The Linux Foundation |date= 2005-08-23 |access-date= 2020-09-29 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.linux.com/news/sharing-files-between-openofficeorg-and-microsoft-office/ |title= Sharing files between OpenOffice.org and Microsoft Office |first= Bruce |last= Byfield |website=Linux.com |publisher=The Linux Foundation |date= 2005-07-28 |access-date= 2020-09-29 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.linux.com/news/softmaker-office-2008-focuses-compatibility-microsoft-office/ |title= SoftMaker Office 2008 focuses on compatibility with Microsoft Office |first= Mayank |last= Sharma |website=Linux.com |publisher=The Linux Foundation |date= 2008-11-20 |access-date= 2020-09-29}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.linux.com/news/softmaker-office-2006-beta-not-killer-app/ |title=SoftMaker Office 2006 beta: Not a killer app |first= Bruce |last= Byfield |website=Linux.com |publisher=The Linux Foundation |date=2006-11-21 |access-date=2020-09-29 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url= http://pacsec.jp/psj06/psj06lagadec-e.pdf |title= OpenOffice / OpenDocument and Microsoft Office 2007 / Open XML security |first= Philippe |last= Lagadec |date= 2006-11-30 |journal= PacSec 2006 Conference |access-date= 2020-09-29 |archive-date= 2011-07-22 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110722122720/http://pacsec.jp/psj06/psj06lagadec-e.pdf |url-status= dead }}</ref> If software that understands a particular OLE object is not available, the object is displayed using a picture of the object which is embedded along with it.<ref>{{cite newsgroup | url= https://groups.google.com/g/microsoft.public.win32.programmer.ole/c/SgmIED_cH98/m/DN2IhbB9rScJ |title= RE: OLE object – bitmap representation? |first= Rhett |last=Gong |newsgroup=microsoft.public.win32.programmer.ole |message-id= iZFkEiesFHA.1204@TK2MSFTNGXA01.phx.gbl |date= 2005-09-05 |access-date=2020-09-29}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://support.microsoft.com/kb/123151 |title= ACC: Why OLE Objects Cause Databases to Grow |website=Microsoft |date= 2007-01-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080215071449/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/123151 |archive-date= 2008-02-15}}</ref>

===Pictures===
RTF supports inclusion of JPEG, PNG, Enhanced Metafile (EMF), [[Windows Metafile]] (WMF), Apple PICT, Windows device-dependent bitmap, Windows device-independent bitmap and OS/2 Metafile picture types in hexadecimal (the default) or binary format in a RTF file. Not all of these picture types are supported in all RTF readers, however. When a RTF document is opened in software that does not support the picture type of an inserted picture, the picture is not displayed. RTF writers usually either convert an inserted picture in an unsupported picture type to one in a supported picture type, or do not include picture at all.

For better compatibility with Microsoft products, some RTF writers include the same picture in two different picture types in one RTF file: one supported picture type to display, and one uncompressed WMF copy of the original picture to improve compatibility with some Microsoft applications like [[Wordpad]].<ref name="support.microsoft.com">{{cite web |url=https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/224663 |title=Document file size increases with EMF, PNG, GIF, or JPEG graphics in Word |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150420165334/https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/224663 |access-date=2011-03-01 |archive-date=20 April 2015 }}</ref>

This method increases the RTF file size dramatically. The RTF specification does not require this method, and several implementations do not include the WMF copy (e.g. [[Abiword]] or [[Ted (word processor)|Ted]]).

For Microsoft Word, it is also possible to set a specific registry value ("ExportPictureWithMetafile=0") to prevent Word from saving the WMF copy.<ref name="support.microsoft.com"/>

===Fonts===
RTF supports [[font embedding|embedding of fonts]] used in the document, but this feature is not widely supported in software implementations.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://support.microsoft.com/kb/275953 |title=Embedded fonts are not displayed as expected in the documents that are saved as RTF in Word |publisher=Microsoft Corporation |date=2007-02-20 |access-date=2010-03-17}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://list.unm.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0504d&L=rtf-l&T=0&F=&S=&P=60 |title=Embedding fonts in RTF file |date=2005-04-23 |access-date=2010-03-17}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.openoffice.org/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=20370 |title=OpenOffice.org Issue&nbsp;– MS Interoperability: embedd fonts into the document |access-date=2010-03-17}}</ref>

RTF also supports generic font family names used for [[font substitution]]: ''roman'' ([[serif]]), ''Swiss'' ([[sans-serif]]), ''modern'' ([[monospaced font|monospace]]), ''script'', ''decorative'' and ''technical''.<ref name="rtf10-txt" /> This feature is not widely supported either.

===Annotations===
Since RTF 1.0, the RTF specification has supported document annotations/comments.<ref name="rtf10-txt" /> The RTF 1.7 specification defined some new features for annotations, including the date stamp (there was previously only "time stamp") and parents of annotations.<ref name="rtf17" /> When a RTF document with annotations is opened in an application that does not support RTF annotations, the annotations are not shown. Similarly, when a document with annotations is saved as RTF in an application that does not support RTF annotations, the annotations are not preserved in the RTF file. Some implementations, like Abiword (since version 2.8) and IBM Lotus Symphony (up to version 1.3), may hide annotations by default or require some user action to display them.

The RTF specification also supports footnotes, which are widely supported in RTF implementations (e.g. in [[OpenOffice.org]], Abiword, [[KWord]], Ted, but not in Wordpad). Endnotes are implemented as a variation on footnotes, so applications that support footnotes but not endnotes will render an endnote as a footnote.

Microsoft products do not support comments within footers, footnotes or headers. Similarly, Microsoft products do not support footnotes in headers, footers, or comments. Inserting a comment or a footnote in one of these disallowed contexts may result in a corrupted document.<ref name="rtf191" />

===Drawing objects===
The RTF 1.2 specification defined use of drawing objects, known as shapes, such as rectangles, ellipses, lines, arrows and polygons. The RTF 1.5 specification introduced many new control words for drawing objects.<ref name="rtf15" />

However, many RTF implementations, such as [[Apache OpenOffice]], do not support drawing objects<ref>{{cite web |url=https://issues.apache.org/ooo/show_bug.cgi?id=3790 |title=Issue 3790&nbsp;– RTF: Import Word 97–2000 RTF for Drawing Objects (Shapes) |work=Apache OpenOffice (AOO) Bugzilla|publisher=Apache Software Foundation|access-date=2014-10-27}}</ref> (though they are supported in [[LibreOffice]] 4.0 on<ref>{{cite web|url=https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleaseNotes/4.0|title=LibreOffice 4.0 Release Notes|publisher=The Document Foundation|access-date=2014-10-27}}</ref>) or Abiword.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.abisource.com/mailinglists/abiword-user/2006/Mar/0048.html |title=Re: Drawing inside Abiword |date=2006-03-15 |access-date=2011-05-21}}</ref> Applications which do not support RTF drawing objects do not display or save the shapes. Some implementations will also not display any text inside drawing objects.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oooforum.org/forum/viewtopic.phtml?t=67774 |title=OOoForum.org&nbsp;– Problem opening RTF file in Writer |access-date=2011-05-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928093755/http://www.oooforum.org/forum/viewtopic.phtml?t=67774 |archive-date=2011-09-28 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://openoffice.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=113308 |title=OpenOffice.org Bugzilla – Bug 113308&nbsp;– Vertical text in border |access-date=2011-05-19}}</ref>

===Security concerns===
Unlike Microsoft Word's DOC format, as well as the newer [[Office Open XML]] and [[OpenDocument]] formats, RTF does not support [[Macro (computer science)|macro]]s. For this reason, RTF was often recommended over those formats when the spread of computer viruses through macros was a concern. However, having the .RTF extension does not guarantee a safe file, since Microsoft Word will open standard DOC files renamed with an RTF extension and run any contained macros as usual. Manual examination of a file in a plain text editor such as [[Notepad (Windows)|Notepad]], or use of the [[file (command)|<code>file</code> command]] in a [[UNIX]]-like systems, is required to determine whether or not a suspect file is really RTF.<ref name="seniortechcenter"/><ref name="SANSavoidmacro">{{cite web|url=http://www.sans.org/security-resources/macro.php |title=Avoiding Macro Viruses |access-date=2015-06-06 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610065538/http://www.sans.org/security-resources/macro.php |archive-date=June 10, 2011 }}</ref> Enabling Word's "Confirm file format conversion on open" option can also assist by warning a document being opened is in a format that does not match the format implied by the file's extension, and giving the option to abort opening that file. One exploit attacking a vulnerability was patched in Microsoft Word in April 2015.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2015/09/08/anatomy-of-a-malicious-email-recent-word-hole/ |title=Anatomy of a malicious email: Crooks exploiting recent Word hole – Naked Security |newspaper=Sophos Web site |date=8 September 2015 |author=Paul Ducklin |access-date=16 February 2016 |archive-date=20 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160220033800/https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2015/09/08/anatomy-of-a-malicious-email-recent-word-hole/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Since 2014 there have been malware RTF files embedding [[OpenXML]] exploits.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blog.malwaretracker.com/2014/05/cryptam-document-analysis-openxml.html |title=malware tracker blog: Cryptam Document Analysis + OpenXML embedded in RTF |newspaper=Blog.malwaretracker.com |access-date= 16 February 2016}}</ref>

==Implementations==
{{See also|Comparison of word processors}}

Each RTF implementation usually implements only some versions or subsets of the RTF specification.<ref name="e-gov-uk" /> Many of the available RTF converters cannot understand all new features in the latest RTF specifications.<ref name="wordperfect-dos" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tug.org/utilities/texconv/index.html |title=Converters from PC Textprocessors to LaTeX&nbsp;– Overview&nbsp;– Converting from RTF |author=Wilfried Hennings |year=2010 |access-date=2010-03-13}}</ref>

The [[WordPad]] editor in Microsoft Windows creates RTF files by default. It once defaulted to the Microsoft Word 6.0 file format, but write support for Word documents (.doc) was dropped in a security update. Read support was also dropped in Windows 7. WordPad does not support some RTF features, such as headers and footers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.familysearch.org/eng/home/faq/faq_fileviewer.asp#Why_does_RTF_not |title=Why does RTF not work properly in WordPad and NotePad? |website=[[FamilySearch]] |access-date=2010-03-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090805114650/http://www.familysearch.org/eng/home/faq/faq_fileviewer.asp#Why_does_RTF_not |archive-date=2009-08-05 |url-status=dead }}</ref> However, WordPad can read and save many RTF features that it cannot create, including tables, strikeout, superscript, subscript, "extra" colors, text background colors, numbered lists, right or left indent, quasi-hypertext and URL linking, and various line spacings. RTF is also the data format for "rich text controls" in MS Windows APIs.<ref name="rtf-pocket-guide" />

The default text editor for [[macOS]], [[TextEdit]], can also view, edit and save RTF files as well as [[Rich Text Format Directory|RTFD]] files, and uses the format as its default.  As of July 2009, TextEdit has limited ability to edit RTF document margins.  Much older Mac word processing application programs such as [[MacWrite]] and [[WriteNow]] had the same RTF abilities as TextEdit has.

The following free and open-source word processors attempt to work with Microsoft's RTF file format, see the criticism paragraph below. [[AbiWord]], [[Apache OpenOffice]], [[Bean (word processor)|Bean]], [[Calligra]], [[Collabora Online]] and [[LibreOffice]].

[[Scrivener (software)|Scrivener]] uses individual RTF files for all the text files that make up a given "project".

[[SIL International]]'s  freeware application for developing and publishing dictionaries uses RTF as its most common form of document output. RTF files produced by Toolbox are designed to be used in [[Microsoft Word]], but can also be used by other RTF-aware word processors.

RTF can be used on some ebook readers because of its interoperability,<ref>{{cite web|title=Handbook on Minimum Information Interoperability Standards (MIOS) |url=http://www.westerncape.gov.za/Text/2004/10/mios_v3_16_april_02.pdf |publisher=Department of Public Service and Administration (South Africa) |access-date=2010-07-11|date=2002-04-16}}</ref> simplicity and low CPU processing requirements.

===Libraries and converters===

[[Pandoc]] is a free and open-source document converter that can read a variety of file formats and convert it into a large number of output formats. Pandoc supports both reading from and writing to RTF.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://pandoc.org/index.html |title=Pandoc - index |access-date=2025-11-17}}</ref> It can be used, for example, to convert from [[Markdown]] to RTF, or from RTF to HTML.

GNU [https://www.gnu.org/software/unrtf/unrtf.html UnRTF] is an open-source program to convert RTF into HTML, LaTeX, troff macros and other formats. [https://pypi.python.org/pypi/pyth pyth] is a [[Python (programming language)|Python]] library to create and convert documents in RTF, XHTML and PDF format. [https://web.archive.org/web/20061109004757/http://ruby-rtf.rubyforge.org/ Ruby RTF] is a project to create Rich Text content via [[Ruby (programming language)|Ruby]]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20071030015907/http://www.flightlab.com/cost/ratfink/ RaTFink] is a library of Tcl routines, free software, to generate RTF output, and a Cost script to convert SGML to RTF. [https://metacpan.org/module/RTF::Writer RTF::Writer] is a [[Perl]] module for generating RTF documents. [https://sourceforge.net/projects/phprtf/ PHPRtfLite] is an API enabling developers to create RTF documents with [[PHP]]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20100726093601/http://www.smartsystems.ro/rtfgen RTFGen] is a project to create RTF documents via pure [[PHP]]. [https://github.com/tbluemel/rtf.js rtf.js] is a [[JavaScript]] based library to render RTF documents in HTML.

The macOS command line tool textutil can convert files between rtf, rtfd, text, doc, docx, wordml, odt and webarchive formats.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#documentation/Darwin/Reference/ManPages/man1/textutil.1.html |title=textutil man page |access-date=2013-06-25}}</ref> The editor Ted can also convert RTF files to HTML and PS format.

The open-source script rtf2xml can partially convert RTF to XML.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sourceforge.net/projects/rtf2xml/ |title=rtf2xml: convert MS RTF to XML |access-date=2010-06-05}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://rtf2xml.sourceforge.net/docs/man-page.html |title=rtf2xml&nbsp;– The Man Page |access-date=2010-06-05}}</ref>

==Criticism==

The Rich Text Format was the standard file format for text-based documents in applications developed for Microsoft Windows. Microsoft did not initially make the RTF specification publicly available, making it difficult for competitors to develop document conversion features in their applications. Because Microsoft's developers had access to the specification, Microsoft's applications had better compatibility with the format. Also, each time Microsoft changed the RTF specification, Microsoft's own applications had a lead in time-to-market, because competitors had to redevelop their applications after studying the newer version of the format.

[[Novell]] alleged that Microsoft's practices were anticompetitive in its 2004 antitrust complaint against Microsoft.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.novell.com/news/press/archive/2004/11/complaint.pdf |title=Novell Files WordPerfect Antitrust Lawsuit against Microsoft |author=Novell |date=2004-11-12 |access-date=2010-03-13}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://gl.scofacts.org/gl-20041115214025458.html |title=The Novell Antitrust Complaint (as text) & A Law About Antitrust and Standards Writing |date=2004-11-17 |access-date=2010-03-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051230163940/http://gl.scofacts.org/gl-20041115214025458.html |archive-date=2005-12-30 }}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Rich Text Format Directory]] (''.rtfd'' file type)
*[[Enriched text]] format
*[[List of document markup languages]]
*[[Comparison of document markup languages]]
*[[Revisable-Form Text]] (RFT), part of IBM's Document Content Architecture (DCA)
*[[TNEF]], Transport Neutral Encapsulation Format, the [[Microsoft Outlook]] default message format

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* [https://interoperability.blob.core.windows.net/files/Archive_References/%5bMSFT-RTF%5d.pdf RTF 1.9.1 specification] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190708132914/http://www.kleinlercher.at/tools/Windows_Protocols/Word2007RTFSpec9.pdf |date=2019-07-08 }}, March 2008, from Microsoft
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20190708132914/http://www.kleinlercher.at/tools/Windows_Protocols/Word2007RTFSpec9.pdf RTF 1.9.1 specification], March 2008, via earlier download from Microsoft and Internet Archive
* [http://ysagnier.free.fr/formats/rtf/rtf-spec-1-8.pdf RTF 1.8 specification], April 2004, from ysagnier.free.fr
* [https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/office/developer/office2000/aa140277(v=office.10) RTF 1.6 specification], May 1999, from Microsoft
* [https://www.biblioscape.com/rtf15_spec.htm RTF 1.5 specification], April 1997, from biblioscape.com
* [http://www.snake.net/software/RTF/ RTF 1.0, 1.2, 1.3, 1.5 and 1.7 specifications] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051027040353/http://www.snake.net/software/RTF/ |date=2005-10-27 }}, from the RTF Tools open-source project
* [https://latex2rtf.sourceforge.net/RTF-Spec-1.0.txt RTF 1.0 specification], June 1992, from the latex2rtf open-source project
* [http://interglacial.com/rtf/ ''RTF Pocket Guide''], book homepage
* [https://github.com/reactos/wine/blob/2e8dfbb1ad71f24c41e8485a39df01bb9304127f/dlls/riched20/reader.c#L493 RTF Character Set to Code Page], last edited June 2017

{{Office document file formats}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Computer file formats]]
[[Category:Technical communication]]
[[Category:Office document file formats]]
[[Category:Text file formats]]