RTF to DOCX Converter
Rich Text Format still turns up from Mac TextEdit, transcription services and programs that never learned to write Word files. Convert it to DOCX and the document joins the format Word, Google Docs and every upload portal treat as normal.
Document Converter
or drop PDF, DOC, DOCX … files here ·
Max 95 MB per file· Up to 20 files· Deleted after 30 minutes
Files are processed on our servers and deleted after 30 minutes.
150 DPI turns an A4 page into about 1240 × 1754 px. Use 300 for printing.
Convert the whole file or only some pages or slides (PDF and presentation input).
Pages or slides to convert, e.g. 1-3, 5, 8-10.
UTF-8 works for every language. Choose UTF-8 with BOM if Excel or Notepad on Windows shows garbled characters; legacy encodings only for old software.
LF for macOS, Linux and code editors; CRLF for older Windows programs such as classic Notepad.
Comma is standard. Use semicolon for Excel in countries that write decimals with a comma (Germany, France, Brazil).
Excel input with several sheets: convert all of them (one section or file per sheet) or only the first.
How to use this tool
- 1
Upload your .rtf files
Add a single letter or a batch of up to 20 files, each up to 95 MB.
- 2
Keep DOCX and Keep all
Convert to is set to DOCX (Word) and Formatting to Keep all. Turn on Include comments if the RTF carries annotations or revision marks you still need.
- 3
Convert and save
Press Convert to DOCX and open the result in Word. It opens in normal editing mode, not Compatibility Mode.
Where RTF files still come from
Microsoft introduced RTF in 1987 with Word 3 for the Macintosh, as a way to move formatted text between programs that could not read each other's files. That job made it the lowest common denominator for decades, and several kinds of software still default to it: TextEdit on the Mac saves new rich-text documents as .rtf, Scrivener keeps each section of a manuscript as an RTF file inside its project, and many dictation, case-management and reporting tools export letters as RTF.
The format has been losing places to open it. Windows 11 removed WordPad in version 24H2, the free editor that read RTF on every PC for almost 30 years. Converting the files you receive into DOCX means they open in the tools people actually use now.
The RTF specification stopped at version 1.9.1
1.9.1the last RTF specification, published by Microsoft in 2008 to match Word 2007
What changes when RTF becomes DOCX
Real styles
RTF headings converted with Keep all become Word styles, so they appear in the Navigation Pane and in an automatic table of contents.
Co-authoring
Real-time co-authoring in Microsoft 365 and Word for the web works on .docx files, not on .rtf.
Accepted everywhere
Job portals and journal submission systems that list Word formats usually name .docx; .rtf is often missing from the list.
RTF and DOCX format facts
RTF
Rich Text Format
RTF is a plain-text markup format that Microsoft introduced in 1987 to move formatted text between word processors. It supports fonts, bold and italic, colours, tables and embedded images, and it can be opened by almost any word processor, including WordPad and TextEdit. It is more portable than DOC but lacks many modern layout features, and documents with images can become very large. Microsoft stopped developing the specification in 2008.
- Compression
- –
- Transparency
- –
- Animation
- –
- Introduced
- 1987 · Microsoft
DOCX
Microsoft Word document
DOCX is Microsoft Word's default document format since Office 2007, based on the Office Open XML standard (ECMA-376, ISO/IEC 29500). It is a ZIP package of XML files holding text, styles, images, tables, comments and tracked changes. It is the most common format for editable documents in offices, schools and job applications. Layout can shift slightly between Word, Google Docs, LibreOffice and Pages, especially with complex formatting. Most word processors open DOCX files.
- Compression
- –
- Transparency
- –
- Animation
- –
- Introduced
- 2007 · Microsoft
RTF files are moved to DOCX when a document from an older or simpler editor has to be stored, shared or edited the modern way: in Microsoft 365 with co-authoring, in a records system that only takes .docx, or in a form that rejects .rtf uploads.
Before you delete the RTF originals
- Open two or three converted files and compare page counts
- Check pictures pasted from TextEdit or a scanner
- Confirm any revision marks if Include comments was on
- Keep originals until the records system accepts the DOCX
Older binary Word files have the same problem with a different cure; DOC to DOCX handles those. If you need the opposite direction for a program that reads only rich text, PDF to RTF starts from a PDF, and the document converter can write .rtf from DOCX too.
RTF to DOCX questions
Why is the DOCX so much smaller than my RTF?
RTF writes pictures as hexadecimal text, two characters for every byte, and stores all formatting as uncompressed control words. DOCX keeps images as binary files and ZIP-compresses its XML. A letter with a scanned signature or a logo often shrinks to a fraction of its RTF size.
My dictation software only exports RTF. Can I batch the files into DOCX?
Yes. Upload up to 20 exported letters or reports at once and each comes back as its own .docx with the same name. Medical and legal transcription tools often default to RTF because almost any editor opens it, so this is a common clean-up step before files go to a records system.
Are TextEdit documents from a Mac supported?
Plain .rtf files from TextEdit convert directly. If TextEdit saved the document as .rtfd, the format it uses when you paste pictures in, that is a folder package rather than a single file; reopen it in TextEdit and save it as .rtf or as a Word document first.
Will revision marks and comments in the RTF come across?
RTF can store annotations and tracked revisions, and both map to Word's comments and track changes when Include comments is on. With the option off you get a clean copy that shows only the final text.
Is page layout kept for printing?
Page size, margins, headers, footers, page breaks and section columns are all described in both formats, so they carry over. Check documents that rely on fonts installed only on the computer that wrote the RTF, since a substitute font can move page breaks.