WordPad is gone from Windows 11: how to open an RTF file
Double-clicking an .rtf file used to open WordPad. New versions of Windows 11 no longer have it, so the file opens in Notepad as a jumble of commands, or not at all. Here is what to use instead.
What an RTF file is
RTF (Rich Text Format) is a document format with formatting: bold and italic, fonts, colours, tables and pictures. Microsoft created it back in 1987 so that documents would open in any program. That is why WordPad, TextEdit on the Mac, Word, LibreOffice and many programs that export reports still save RTF.
Where WordPad went
In 2023 Microsoft announced it would stop developing WordPad, and from Windows 11 version 24H2 it is removed from the system. It cannot be added back in Settings. Windows 10 still has WordPad, but on new computers an .rtf file often has nothing to open with.
Four ways to open an RTF file
- Microsoft Word opens RTF with all its formatting — if you have Word.
- LibreOffice Writer is a free office suite for Windows, Mac and Linux. It opens and saves RTF.
- Google Docs — upload the file to Google Drive and choose Open with → Google Docs. The file ends up in the cloud.
- OsonKit — open the RTF viewer in your browser. Nothing to install, and the file is not uploaded.
Open it in your browser in a second
Drop the file on OsonKit or pick it with the button. The document is laid out on pages with its fonts, colours, alignment, tables, PNG and JPEG pictures and links, and you can zoom or print it. It works on a computer and on a phone, and the file is read right in the browser.
- Headers and footers, footnotes, comments and hidden text are not shown.
- Pictures in other formats are marked with a labelled placeholder.
- Files up to 50 MB. Old Word documents (.doc) open in the DOC viewer.
Why Notepad shows strange codes
Inside, RTF is plain text with the formatting written as commands: {\rtf1\ansi, \b for bold, \par for a new paragraph. A document program turns them into formatting; Notepad shows them as they are. Nothing is wrong with the file — it just needs one of the programs above.