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Merge PDF
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RTF to Text Converter
Converts an RTF document to plain text with a real parser, skipping the font, colour and style tables rather than stripping tags.
PDF
Nothing uploaded
No sign-up
Free, unlimited
Drop an .rtf fileor paste the RTF source below
Add a file to begin.
In short
RTF is not a markup language with tags to strip — it is a control-word language with groups, and the difference decides whether an extraction works. An RTF file begins with a font table, a colour table and a stylesheet, all of which contain perfectly readable words like typeface and style names, so a tool that removes backslash commands with a regular expression returns those tables before the document actually begins. A proper parser tracks group depth and skips those destinations entirely. It also has to honour \ucN, which says how many legacy fallback bytes follow each \uN Unicode character — ignoring it makes every accented letter appear twice.
How to use the RTF to Text Converter
- Drop the .rtf file, or paste the source.
- Check the word count against what you expected.
- Copy the text or download it.
About the RTF to Text Converter
The RTF to Text Converter converts an RTF document to plain text with a real parser, skipping the font, colour and style tables rather than stripping tags. It runs as plain JavaScript inside the page, which means there is no upload step, no queue and no size limit imposed by a server — the only limit is your own device.
What people use it for
- Reading an RTF on a machine with no word processor.
- Getting text out of an old document for reuse.
- Cleaning an RTF export down to its words.
Details
| Format | Control words and groups, not tags |
|---|---|
| Skipped | Font table, colour table, stylesheet, info, images, objects |
| Unicode | \uN with the \ucN fallback count honoured |
| Not supported | The binary .doc format, which is unrelated |
Tables are flattened to lines and images are dropped, because neither survives a conversion to plain text in any meaningful way. What the tool does report is whether the document contained them, so a short result on a long file has an explanation.
Where this tool stops
Text only. Heavily nested RTF written by Word can contain constructs this parser skips conservatively, so compare the word count against the original if the output looks short.
Frequently asked questions
Why do other RTF strippers return font names?
Because they treat RTF as tagged markup and remove anything starting with a backslash. The font table, colour table and stylesheet are groups full of ordinary words — "Times New Roman", "Heading 1" — and removing only the control words leaves those words behind, at the top of the output. Skipping the whole group is the only correct approach, and it needs a parser that tracks nesting.
Why did accented characters come out doubled?
That is the <code>\ucN</code> trap. RTF writes a Unicode character as <code>\uN</code> followed by a legacy approximation for old readers, and <code>\ucN</code> says how many bytes that approximation occupies. A parser that ignores it emits both, so é becomes é followed by its fallback. This one honours the count.
Can it open a .doc file?
No. Despite both being old Microsoft formats, RTF is plain text with control words and .doc is a binary compound file — completely different. Open the .doc in Word or LibreOffice and save as RTF or plain text.
Is the RTF to Text Converter free?
It is free, with no account, no trial and no daily cap. Every pdf tool on inputtesthub.com works the same way: open the page and use it.
Is my data uploaded anywhere?
No. The RTF to Text Converter runs entirely in your browser using JavaScript. Your input never reaches inputtesthub.com or any third party — open your browser's Network tab while you use it and you will see no request go out.
When would I actually need the RTF to Text Converter?
The most common reasons people reach for it: reading an RTF on a machine with no word processor. Getting text out of an old document for reuse. Cleaning an RTF export down to its words. It is built for exactly those cases rather than being a general-purpose tool with this bolted on.
Is there anything the RTF to Text Converter cannot do?
Text only. Heavily nested RTF written by Word can contain constructs this parser skips conservatively, so compare the word count against the original if the output looks short. Knowing where a tool stops being trustworthy matters more than the cases where it works.
What figures does the RTF to Text Converter work from?
Format is Control words and groups, not tags. Skipped is Font table, colour table, stylesheet, info, images, objects. Unicode is <code>\uN</code> with the <code>\ucN</code> fallback count honoured. These are printed on the page itself, so you do not have to take them on trust.
How large a file can I use?
There is no limit set by us, because your file is never uploaded — the only ceiling is the memory your own browser will give the tab. Very large files simply take longer to process, and a phone will give up sooner than a desktop.
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