Convert PDF to RTF (Rich Text Format)
Turn a PDF into an RTF online. No account needed.
or drop your PDF anywhere on this page
PDF → DOCX → RTF
What RTF is good for
To convert PDF to RTF, select or drop your PDF on this page, press Convert to RTF and download the result: a .rtf file named after your PDF, so minutes.pdf comes back as minutes.rtf. The words, tables and pictures are yours to change again.
RTF (Rich Text Format) is formatted text that almost any word processor can open: bold, fonts, tables and pictures in a file that is not tied to one program. That makes it the safe pick when you do not know what the reader uses, when older software will not take a .docx, or when an upload form or a records system asks for RTF by name.
This PDF to RTF converter runs online, on our server, so there is nothing to install. It is free for three conversions a day, one file at a time and up to 25 MB each, with no account.
How to convert PDF to RTF
- 1Select or drop your PDF
Nothing uploads until you press convert.
- 2Choose your options
We show the route and its fidelity grade up front.
- 3Download your RTF
Then it is deleted after 24 hours, automatically.
A page, frozen. Looks identical everywhere, resists editing everywhere.
Formatted text that almost anything can open. The lowest common denominator with bold.
A PDF is a frozen page, so the file is rebuilt, not copied. Expect the odd margin, font or line break to move.
How the PDF is rebuilt
A PDF records where each letter sits on the page, not which words make a paragraph or a table, so it cannot simply be saved again in another format. Our server rebuilds it in two steps: the PDF becomes a Word document, and that document is saved as RTF. That is why the route is graded Very good rather than exact. We ran test PDFs through it and opened every RTF to check what arrived:
- Editable paragraphs, with bold, italic and letters such as é, Ø and £ intact.
- Tables as real tables, cell by cell: a table of four rows and three columns kept all twelve cells.
- Pictures inside the file, with all their pixels, at the size they had on the page.
- The page layout: a US Letter page stayed US Letter, a landscape A4 page stayed landscape, and each page of the PDF started a new page.
What to tidy before you rely on the RTF
- Headings arrive as large bold text, not as heading styles. Give them a heading style if you need an outline or a contents list.
- Bullets and numbers are typed characters at the start of each line, so adding an item does not renumber the list.
- A running header or footer becomes ordinary text at the top and bottom of every page. Delete the copies and set a real header or footer in your word processor, or they will move down the page as you add text.
- Links did not survive our tests, and the linked words went missing with them. Read the text against the PDF.
- A page in two columns came back only partly in columns: the right column ran on below the left one, across the page.
The RTF asks for the fonts the PDF was made with, by name. A computer without one of them shows a similar font in its place, so lines may break in new places.
Scanned PDFs
A scanned PDF is a picture of paper with no text inside. When a PDF has no text at all, the English words on the page are read, and each line of the scan becomes its own paragraph of editable words. On our scanned test page every word was right except a name, where Ø was read as @, and a bracket that was not on the paper. Its table came back as lines of words, without the grid.
RTF, Word or plain text?
All three give you the words of a PDF to edit. What else comes with them differs, and so does the size of the file:
| RTF | Word | Plain text | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steps from the PDF | Two, through Word | One | One |
| Tables and pictures | Kept | Kept | Words only |
| A 238 KB PDF with two photos | 3.9 MB | 2.0 MB | Under 1 KB |
| A long PDF | Converted in one go | Converted in parts and joined | Converted in one go |
If the file will be edited in a modern word processor, convert PDF to Word: it is one step shorter, gives a smaller file when there are photos, and handles long PDFs in parts. If only the words matter, convert PDF to text. RTF sits between them: the formatting kept, in a file almost anything opens.
For a web page instead of a document, convert PDF to HTML. Other files become rich text too: convert HTML to RTF for a saved web page, or convert text to RTF for plain notes. Once your edits are done, convert RTF to PDF to fix the layout again for sharing.
Questions people ask
How do I convert a PDF to RTF?
Press Select PDF file, or drop the PDF anywhere on this page, then press Convert to RTF and download the .rtf. Nothing is sent until you press convert. Three conversions a day are free, up to 25 MB each, with no account, and both files are deleted after 24 hours.
Will the RTF keep my formatting?
Most of it. The PDF is rebuilt, not copied, so expect the odd margin, font or line break to move. In our tests bold, italic, tables, pictures and the page size all came through. Headings came back as bold text rather than heading styles, lists as typed bullets, and links were lost.
Does PDF to RTF work on scanned PDFs?
Yes, when the whole PDF is a scan. Its English words are read from the page, and you get them as editable paragraphs, with no table grid. A scanned page can be misread, so check names and figures. In a PDF that mixes typed and scanned pages, the scanned pages come back as pictures.
Should I choose RTF or Word?
Choose Word when the reader has a modern word processor: PDF to Word is one step fewer and makes a smaller file when the PDF has photos. Choose RTF when you do not know what the reader has, or when a form or older program asks for it, since almost any word processor opens RTF.
Why is my RTF file bigger than the PDF?
Pictures. An RTF stores each picture as text, two characters for every byte, and our pictures arrive as PNG. In our test a 238 KB PDF with two photos became a 3.9 MB RTF. A PDF of text alone stays small: a 50 KB three-page report gave a 26 KB RTF.
Is converting PDF to RTF free?
Yes. Up to 25 MB and three conversions a day are free, with no account. Pro and Business lift the file limit to 100 MB and remove the daily cap.
What happens to my files?
Both your PDF and the RTF we produce are deleted 24 hours after each conversion, automatically. Try again and Continue to another tool start a new conversion, with its own 24 hours. Nothing is used for training and no human looks at your documents.
Will the RTF look exactly like the PDF?
This pair grades as “Very good”. We show the exact route and that grade before you convert, so there are no surprises about what survives the trip.
Do I need to install anything?
No. Nothing to install. Pick or drop a file here, it's converted on our servers, and you download the result.
How large can my file be?
25 MB on the free plan, and 100 MB on Pro and Business.
Can I convert several files at once?
On Pro and Business, yes: add up to 100 files before converting. The free plan converts one file at a time.
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