what is an rtf file

An RTF file is a Rich Text Format file that contains both configuration information and the actual text of the document. It was created by the Microsoft Word team in the 1980s as a universal format that could be used by most word processors, making it easier for people to share Word documents with people who dont use Word. Unlike plain text files, RTF files can include extra information about font style, formatting, images, and more. The formatting includes bold, italics, font size, and margin settings. RTF files are great for cross-platform document sharing because they are supported by lots of apps. They are particularly useful to those using a different word-processing package from those used on campus. Most word processing apps, such as Microsoft Word, LibreOffice, OpenOffice, AbiWord, and so on, can open an RTF file. Most file syncing services, like Dropbox, OneDrive, and Google Drive, have built-in viewers that let you at least read an RTF file, even if you cant edit it there. Google Docs does let you edit RTF files, though. Most operating systems have a built-in editor that can open RTF files, such as WordPad in Windows, Apple TextEdit or Apple Pages in Mac.