After asking a colleague to send you work documents, you received RTF files by email . Not being particularly knowledgeable in the IT field and not having the slightest idea what format it is, before downloading them you would like to understand if your computer is able to open the files received and, if not, what are the programs to install. Is that so? Then let me tell you that you have come to the right place at the right time.
With today’s guide, in fact, I will explain how to open RTF from both a Windows PC and a Mac using one of the “standard” installed programs on your computer or using more advanced software to download and install separately. Furthermore, I will propose alternative solutions, such as online services to view files in RTF format directly from the browser that you usually use to browse the Internet or apps to install on your smartphone or tablet to open documents with RTF extension even when you don’t have a computer available.
How do you say? Are you looking forward to learning more about the topic and opening the received files? So let’s not waste any more time chatting and let’s get to work immediately. Find everything below!
Index
- How to open RTF files on PC
- WordPad (Windows)
- TextEdit (macOS)
- LibreOffice (Windows/macOS/Linux)
- OpenOffice (Windows/macOS/Linux)
- Microsoft Word (Windows/macOS)
- Pages (macOS)
- Come aprire file RTF online
- Google Drive
- OneDrive
- Docdroid
- App to open RTF files
How to open RTF files on PC
If you want to know how to open RTF format , you must know that there are so many software that you are spoiled for choice. The format in question, in fact, can be considered universal as it can be opened and modified by various programs and platforms. Here are some solutions you can consider.
WordPad (Windows)
If you do not intend to install additional programs to read the RTF files that have been sent to you or downloaded from the Internet, you should know that you can open these documents with WordPad , the text editor installed as “standard” on all Windows PCs.
To open an RTF file with WordPad , start it, click on the File item in the top menu, select the Open option from the menu that appears, locate the RTF file and press the Open button to view it. Alternatively, right-click on the RTF file of your interest and select the items Open with and WordPad from the menu that appears.
You should know that WordPad not only allows you to open and view RTF files, but also to make changes and save them. However, you may experience display problems with files that have particularly advanced formatting. If you want to avoid such problems, turn to the solutions that I will suggest later.
TextEdit (macOS)
TextEdit is the “standard” installed text editor on Mac . This is a good solution for those who need to view the contents of a basic text file, but to open RTF files with advanced formatting or containing images it is preferable to rely on other software.
If you have not set up the opening of an RTF file with another program, to open the RTF format with Mac , double-click on the file to view and it will be opened automatically with TexdEdit. Alternatively, launch TextEdit , select the file to open and click the Open button .
LibreOffice (Windows/macOS/Linux)
Among the programs to open RTF files is LibreOffice , an open source productivity suite that allows you to view, edit and save text documents with Writer , one of the applications included in it.
To download LibreOffice on your computer, connect to the official website of the software and click on the Download button to download the installation file compatible with the operating system in use on your computer. Once this is done, start the installation on Windows or macOS , starting the file you just downloaded and following the instructions on the screen. For more details, you can consult this tutorial of mine .
To open an RTF file with LibreOffice , double-click on the file in question and it will automatically start with Writer . If not, you need to associate opening RTF files with LibreOffice. I’ll explain how to do this.
On a Windows PC , right-click on the RTF file, select the Properties item from the menu that appears and press the Change button next to the Open with item , then select LibreOffice and confirm the association by pressing the OK and Apply buttons . On Mac , on the other hand, right-click on the RTF file, select the item Get information , click on the arrow pointing to the right to expand the item Open with and select LibreOffice from the drop-down menu under the option Open with.
OpenOffice (Windows/macOS/Linux)
Another free and open source productivity suite, similar to LibreOffice (with which it shares part of the source code), is OpenOffice . It is a free and open source suite that is updated less frequently and does not include all the advanced features of LibreOffice. However, it remains very valid.
If you want to download OpenOffice for Windows , macOS or Linux , all you have to do is download the installation file via the Download button that you find in the appropriate section of its official website . If you want to know more about the procedure for downloading and installing OpenOffice on your computer, I recommend reading this tutorial of mine .
When installation is complete, to open RTF files with OpenOffice , start the software in question and, in its main screen, select the File> Open items . At this point, locate the RTF file, select it and press the Open button . By doing so, you will be able to view and edit the file and save it while maintaining the RTF format. Simple, right?
If you want the RTF format to be opened automatically with OpenOffice, I recommend that you follow the same instructions I have given you for LibreOffice , taking care to obviously select OpenOffice as the default software.
Microsoft Word (Windows/macOS)
Want to know how to open RTF files with Word ? In this case, you should know that this software belonging to the famous Microsoft Office suite, you can view, create and edit text files. In addition to the RTF format, in fact, it supports DOC , DOCX , ODT , PDF , TXT and many others.
If you have not yet installed Word on your computer, you can follow the instructions I gave you in this tutorial , in which you will find various information on how to subscribe to Microsoft 365 for this productivity suite and how to take advantage of the free trial version of 7 days (you will need a Microsoft account ).
If Word is already installed on your computer, to open an RTF file double-click on it and it will start automatically with Word. If not, you need to set up the opening of files with the RTF extension with Word, by changing the settings on the associations of the operating system.
On a Windows PC , right- click on an RTF file, select Properties from the menu that appears and click the Change button , then select Microsoft Office in the list of recommended applications and click the OK button ; if you use a Mac , right-click on the RTF file, select the item Get information from the menu that appears and select Word from the drop-down menu under the item Open with .
Pages (macOS)
Pages is the text editor included in Apple’s iWork suite and, like TextEdit , is installed “standard” on macOS (alternatively, it can be obtained from the Mac App Store ). Allows you to open files in RTF format, although in some cases the original formatting of open documents is not preserved at 100%.
To open your RTF file with Pages, right-click on the file in question, select the Open with item from the menu that appears and select the Pages option . Alternatively, first open the program, click on the File item in the top menu and select the Open option from the menu that appears, then select the file to open and press the Open button .
You need to know that with Pages, you can make any changes to the RTF document you want. However, saving the file will export it to a new file with the .pages extension . To save the changes and keep the document in RTF format, click on the File item in the top menu and select the Export as and RTF Format items from the menu that appears, then press the Next , Export and Replace buttons (if you are saving it in the same folder as the original file).
Come aprire file RTF online
In addition to the programs that I have proposed to you in the previous paragraphs, you must know that you can open RTF online without resorting to software to install on your computer: here are some of the most interesting.
Google Drive
Google Drive is the famous cloud storage service from Google, thanks to which you can store your documents online (free up to 15 GB; to increase the space you need to activate a paid plan of Google One ). In addition, it allows you to view, create and edit text documents, spreadsheets and presentations directly online, with the ability to share them with other users. The service is free.
To open an RTF file with Google Drive , connected to the main page of the service and click on the Go to Drive button to access your documents automatically if you are already logged in to your Google account. If not, log in or, in case you don’t have a Google account, you can create one by following the instructions I gave you in this tutorial .
Now, click on the New button at the top left, select the File Upload item from the menu that appears and select the RTF file to upload and open with Google Drive, then wait for it to upload and double-click on its name to view it with the Google Docs text editor . I warn you that, in case you want to make changes, the file will be saved with the extension .doc , losing the RTF format.
OneDrive
OneDrive is Microsoft’s cloud storage service with 15GB of free space for everyone (to have more space you need to upgrade ). By uploading RTF documents to the latter, it is possible to access them from the web panel of the service and view them.
To use the web version of OneDrive, go to its main page and log in with your Microsoft account . Once this is done, on the OneDrive main screen that is shown to you, press the Upload button at the top and select the File item . Then locate the RTF file of your interest, select it and press the Open button .
After uploading the file, locate it in the list and then click on it to view the contents of the document. Unfortunately, it is not possible to edit the RTF file, as OneDrive only allows you to view it.
Docdroid
Docdroid is another good solution to open an RTF file online. The service is free and allows you to upload and view files in PDF, DOC, DOCX, TXT and many other formats, without registration.
To view an RTF file with Docdroid, connected to the main page of the service and click on the Select file button , then select the file to upload and press the Open button . In the new open window, press the No, thanks button to avoid recording and wait for the file to load, then press the View button to open the file.
You must know that with Docdroid you can also share your file on social networks or external websites by obtaining an embed code. Furthermore, you can convert the RTF file to PDF by pressing the Download button at the top right. In this regard, my guide on how to convert RTF files to PDF may be useful .
App to open RTF files
Among the tools you can consider there are also apps to open RTF files to install on your smartphone and tablet. To be able to open RTF on Android or iPhone / iPad , here are some solutions that might be right for you.
- Collaborate Office( Android / iOS / iPadOS ) – is a port of LibreOffice for Android. It allows you to view, edit and create files in numerous formats, such as RTF, DOC, ODT, XLS, OSD, PPT etc. It’s free.
- Microsoft Word( Android / iOS / iPadOS ) – is the mobile version of Word, the app dedicated to text files in the Office suite. It is free for devices up to 10.1 ″ in size and allows you to create, edit and view RTF, DOC, DOCX etc. files. and it is also proposed as a reader of PDF files.
- OOReader( Android / iOS / iPadOS ) – the ideal app for those looking for a file reader in RTF format, but also DOC, DOT, DOCX, ODT etc. It is free and allows you to open files previously uploaded to services such as Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive and iCloud.
- Docs Viewer( Android ) – another file reader that allows you to open text documents in RTF, PDF, DOC, ODT, TXT etc. It is free and requires an internet connection.
- Google Documents( Android / iOS / iPadOS ) – is the mobile version of Google Docs that allows you to open files uploaded to Google Drive, the famous service dedicated to archiving text documents, spreadsheets, presentations, etc. In addition, it allows both the editing function and the creation of new files.