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Supported Formats

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Word Processing

DOC

Microsoft Word 97-2003 Document - legacy binary format used by older Word versions. Supports rich text formatting, images, tables, and complex layouts. Maximum compatibility with legacy systems and older Microsoft Office versions (Office 97-2007). File sizes typically larger than modern DOCX. Common in corporate archives, legacy document management systems, and environments requiring backwards compatibility. Still widely supported but superseded by DOCX for new documents.

DOCX

Microsoft Word 2007+ Document - modern XML-based format providing better compression (40-75% smaller than DOC), improved recovery from corruption, and enhanced features. Open XML standard with better data extraction capabilities. Supports all Word features including styles, themes, SmartArt, advanced formatting, and embedded objects. Industry standard for word processing. Native format for Microsoft Word 2007+, compatible with Google Docs, LibreOffice, and all modern office suites. Essential for professional documents, collaborative editing, and modern workflows.

ODT

OpenDocument Text - open standard format for word processors developed by OASIS consortium. Native format for LibreOffice Writer and Apache OpenOffice Writer. XML-based structure ensuring long-term accessibility and vendor independence. Supports advanced formatting, styles, images, tables, and all standard word processing features. Excellent for open-source environments, government documents (mandated in many countries), and avoiding vendor lock-in. Free from licensing restrictions and patent concerns.

RTF

Rich Text Format - universal document format developed by Microsoft (1987) for cross-platform text exchange. Readable by virtually all word processors (Word, WordPad, LibreOffice, Google Docs, Pages). Supports basic formatting (fonts, colors, styles, tables) without complex features. Larger file sizes than modern formats but maximum compatibility. Perfect for sharing formatted documents across different systems, email attachments ensuring readability, and legacy system compatibility. Reliable intermediate format for document conversion.

DOCM

Word Macro-Enabled Document - DOCX format with embedded VBA macros. Supports automation, custom functions, and advanced document processing. Security risk if macros from untrusted sources. Used in business environments for automated document workflows. Same features as DOCX plus programmability. Perfect for automated reports, form processing, and document generation. Requires macro security settings in Word. Convert to DOCX to remove macros for safer sharing.

DOT

Word 97-2003 Template - legacy template format for Microsoft Word. Contains styles, formatting, and placeholder content for document creation. Binary format compatible with old Word versions. Larger file sizes than DOTX. Common in corporate environments with standardized documents. Perfect for letterheads, forms, and recurring document types. Being replaced by DOTX. Convert to DOTX for modern Word compatibility and smaller file sizes.

DOTX

Word Template - modern XML-based template format for Microsoft Word 2007+. Contains styles, themes, formatting, and boilerplate content. Smaller file sizes than DOT. Used for standardized documents, letterheads, forms, and corporate templates. Opens as new document preserving template. Perfect for consistent branding and document standardization. Industry standard for Word templates. Compatible with modern Office versions and alternatives.

DOTM

Word Macro-Enabled Template - DOTX template with embedded VBA macros. Combines template functionality with automation. Used for automated document generation and complex form processing. Security considerations for macro-enabled templates. Perfect for business workflows requiring automated document creation. Common in enterprise environments. Requires macro-enabled Word. Remove macros and convert to DOTX for safer distribution.

ABW

AbiWord Document - native format for AbiWord word processor (open-source alternative to Microsoft Word). XML-based lightweight format supporting basic word processing features including formatting, tables, images, and styles. Smaller file sizes than DOC/DOCX. Compatible with AbiWord on Windows, Linux, and Mac. Good RTF compatibility for cross-application usage. Perfect for lightweight word processing in open-source environments. Limited support outside AbiWord. Convert to DOCX or PDF for wider compatibility.

AW

Applix Word Document - legacy format from Applix Words word processor (1990s Unix/Linux). Proprietary format with limited modern support. Historical format from early Unix office suites. Rarely encountered except in legacy system migrations. Convert to modern formats (ODT, DOCX, PDF) for accessibility. Important for recovering documents from old Applix installations. Better alternatives available for all use cases.

DBK

DocBook XML - semantic markup format for technical documentation. XML-based structure focusing on content over presentation. Widely used in software documentation, technical manuals, and publishing. Separates content from formatting enabling multiple output formats (PDF, HTML, EPUB). Perfect for complex technical documentation requiring version control and multiple output formats. Standard in open-source documentation. Requires XSLT processing for readable output.

KWD

KWord Document - native format for KWord word processor (part of KOffice/Calligra Suite). XML-based format for KDE office applications. Supports frames-based layout for flexible document design. Less common than mainstream formats. Linux-centric format with limited Windows/Mac support. Convert to ODT or DOCX for wider compatibility. Historical format from KDE office suite evolution. Better alternatives available for modern use.

SXW

OpenOffice.org 1.0 Writer - legacy OpenDocument format predecessor. XML-based format from OpenOffice.org 1.x era (2002-2005). Replaced by ODT in OpenOffice 2.0. Supported by older OpenOffice and LibreOffice versions. Convert to ODT for modern compatibility. Historical format important for accessing old OpenOffice documents. Modern LibreOffice can open but saving in ODT recommended.

TXT

Plain Text - simplest document format containing only unformatted ASCII or Unicode characters. No fonts, colors, images, or layout information. Universal compatibility across all platforms, text editors, and systems. Smallest possible file sizes. Perfect for notes, code, scripts, logs, and any situation requiring absolute simplicity and portability. Essential format for programming, configuration files, data exchange, and scenarios where formatting is unnecessary. Works on any device from mainframes to smartphones.

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XLS

Microsoft Excel 97-2003 Workbook - legacy binary spreadsheet format supporting up to 65,536 rows and 256 columns per sheet. Contains formulas, formatting, charts, and multiple worksheets. Compatible with older Excel versions (Excel 97-2007). File size limited to ~30MB. Common in legacy business systems, old financial databases, and environments requiring Excel 97-2003 compatibility. Being replaced by XLSX but still encountered in corporate archives and legacy data systems.

XLSX

Microsoft Excel 2007+ Workbook - modern XML-based spreadsheet format with 1,048,576 rows and 16,384 columns per sheet. Provides better compression (75% smaller than XLS), improved recovery from corruption, and enhanced features. Supports all Excel capabilities including formulas, pivot tables, charts, conditional formatting, and macros (in XLSM variant). Industry standard for spreadsheets. Compatible with Google Sheets, LibreOffice Calc, and all modern office suites. Essential for data analysis, financial modeling, and business intelligence.

ODS

OpenDocument Spreadsheet - open standard format for spreadsheet applications developed by OASIS. Native format for LibreOffice Calc and Apache OpenOffice Calc. XML-based structure ensuring data accessibility and vendor independence. Supports formulas, charts, multiple sheets, and standard spreadsheet features. Excellent for open-source workflows, government use (mandated by many countries), and avoiding Microsoft Office licensing. Free from proprietary restrictions with long-term document accessibility guarantees.

CSV

Comma-Separated Values - simple text format for tabular data where each line represents a row and commas separate columns. Universal data exchange format readable by all spreadsheet applications, databases, and programming languages. No formatting, formulas, or multiple sheets - pure data only. Smallest file sizes for tabular data. Perfect for data import/export, database operations, data analysis with Python/R, and sharing datasets. Essential format for data science, web applications, and system integration. Works with Excel, databases, and any data processing tool.

{group_presentation}

PPT

Microsoft PowerPoint 97-2003 Presentation - legacy binary format for slide presentations. Supports slides, animations, transitions, embedded media, and speaker notes. Compatible with older PowerPoint versions (PowerPoint 97-2007). File sizes larger than modern PPTX. Common in legacy presentation archives, older corporate training materials, and environments requiring backwards compatibility. Still playable but superseded by PPTX for new presentations. Found in archived presentations from pre-2007 era.

PPTX

Microsoft PowerPoint 2007+ Presentation - modern XML-based format providing better compression (up to 75% smaller than PPT), improved recovery, and enhanced multimedia support. Supports all PowerPoint features including advanced animations, transitions, embedded videos, SmartArt, themes, and master slides. Industry standard for presentations. Native format for PowerPoint 2007+, compatible with Google Slides, LibreOffice Impress, and Keynote. Essential for business presentations, educational slideshows, and professional communication.

ODP

OpenDocument Presentation - open standard format for presentation software developed by OASIS consortium. Native format for LibreOffice Impress and Apache OpenOffice Impress. XML-based structure ensuring long-term accessibility. Supports slides, animations, transitions, multimedia, and standard presentation features. Excellent for open-source environments, government presentations, and avoiding vendor lock-in. Free from licensing restrictions. Compatible with PowerPoint through conversion but best used within open-source office suites.

Other Formats

PDF

Portable Document Format - universal document format developed by Adobe maintaining exact visual appearance across all platforms and devices. Preserves fonts, images, layouts, and formatting precisely. Industry standard for document distribution, official documents, forms, archival, and printing. Not designed for editing (though modern tools allow limited editing). Supports encryption, digital signatures, forms, annotations, and accessibility features. Essential for contracts, invoices, reports, e-books, and any document requiring consistent appearance. Most widely supported document format globally.

DJVU

DjVu Document - specialized format for scanned documents, books, and manuscripts. Superior compression for bitonal and color scanned images. Smaller than PDF for scanned content (3-10x). Supports OCR text layer, annotations, and bookmarks. Perfect for digital libraries, scientific papers, historical documents, and scanned books. Specialized viewers required (DjVuLibre, browser plugins). Excellent for archiving paper documents digitally. Convert to PDF for broader accessibility.

XPS

XML Paper Specification - Microsoft's document format similar to PDF. Fixed-layout format preserving exact document appearance. Native support in Windows Vista+. Supports vector graphics, fonts embedding, and digital signatures. Alternative to PDF in Windows environments. Limited support outside Windows ecosystem. Perfect for Windows-only document distribution. Convert to PDF for universal compatibility across all platforms.

OXPS

Open XML Paper Specification - standardized version of XPS as ECMA standard. Same features as XPS with formal specification. Better cross-platform support than original XPS. Fixed-layout document format with vector graphics support. Used in some Windows applications and printers. Limited adoption compared to PDF. Convert to PDF for maximum compatibility. Mainly relevant in Windows printing workflows.

MD

Markdown - lightweight markup language using plain text formatting syntax for creating formatted documents. Simple symbols (* for italics, ** for bold, # for headings) convert to HTML. Human-readable in plain text. Perfect for README files, documentation, blogs, note-taking, and technical writing. Popular among developers, technical writers, and content creators. Supports headers, lists, links, images, code blocks, and basic formatting. Extremely portable and future-proof. Foundation of many static site generators and documentation systems.

HTML

HyperText Markup Language - standard markup language for web pages containing text, images, links, and multimedia. Readable in any web browser without special software. Supports styling (CSS), interactivity (JavaScript), and rich media embedding. Universal web standard since 1991. Perfect for web publishing, online documentation, email newsletters, and accessible content. Extremely portable with guaranteed long-term support. Can be converted from documents for web distribution or archived for offline viewing.

EPUB

Electronic Publication - open standard e-book format based on HTML, CSS, and XML. Reflowable text adapts to any screen size. Supports fonts, images, metadata, table of contents, and CSS styling. Industry standard for e-books compatible with most e-readers (Kindle via conversion, Kobo, Nook, Apple Books, Google Play Books). Perfect for digital publishing, self-publishing, and distributing long-form content. EPUB 3 adds multimedia and interactivity. Essential format for authors, publishers, and digital libraries.

How to Convert Files

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is an RTF file and why was it created as a universal document format?

RTF (Rich Text Format) is a document format developed by Microsoft in the late 1980s to create a universal, cross-platform format that could exchange formatted text between different word processors and operating systems.

Unlike DOC or DOCX, RTF stores content using plain-text control words that describe formatting such as fonts, colors, bold, italics, tables, and paragraph alignment.

Because RTF uses human-readable markup and avoids proprietary binary structures, it became one of the earliest standards for document interchange across incompatible software.

Why is RTF more compatible across different systems than many modern formats?

RTF uses plain-text formatting instructions that can be processed by hundreds of editors, including old and minimal text processors.

Its specification was openly published by Microsoft for decades, making it easy for third-party developers to implement support.

Even today, RTF remains one of the simplest, most universal formats for exchanging formatted documents between different applications.

Why do RTF files sometimes lose complex formatting when converted from DOCX or ODT?

RTF was designed in an era before advanced features like SmartArt, floating images, embedded video, or complex style hierarchies existed.

Many modern layout features simply have no equivalent in the RTF specification, so they are dropped or simplified during conversion.

RTF is best suited for basic formatting—headings, paragraphs, tables, fonts—not advanced interactive or multimedia content.

Why are RTF files larger than plain-text files?

RTF uses verbose control words to store formatting instructions, increasing the overall file size relative to plain .txt files.

Embedded images are stored as text-encoded hexadecimal, which is much larger than compressed binary embedding.

Despite the increase in size, RTF remains more lightweight than older binary formats like DOC.

Why is RTF often used in legal, academic, and government workflows?

RTF ensures maximum compatibility across all systems—even very old computers or restricted environments with minimal software.

Courts and academic institutions often require formats that cannot execute macros or scripts, and RTF provides this additional safety.

Its predictable plain-text structure makes RTF a stable long-term storage format for archival documents.

Why does RTF not support advanced modern document features?

RTF’s specification froze years ago and was never updated to support modern XML-based document structures, page models, or media embedding.

Its original goal was simplicity and universal readability, not supporting multimedia or complex formatting.

For these reasons, RTF cannot compete with DOCX, ODT, or PDF in terms of feature richness.

Why do RTF files sometimes appear differently across word processors?

While RTF is open, not all editors implement the full specification, resulting in rendering inconsistencies.

Some software supports only the basic subset of RTF features, ignoring advanced control words.

Differences in default font handling, line spacing, or page settings can also affect appearance across editors.

Why is RTF considered safer than DOC or DOCX when receiving documents from unknown sources?

RTF cannot execute macros, embedded scripts, or advanced automation, which eliminates many attack vectors present in DOC and DOCX.

Its plain-text structure prevents obfuscated malware or hidden binary payloads.

This is why many secure environments prefer RTF for document exchange, including medical, legal, and government systems.

Why are RTF documents easier to recover if corrupted?

Since RTF is plain text, partial corruption does not break the entire file; the readable portions remain intact.

Corrupt control sequences can often be repaired with a simple text editor by removing or adjusting problematic sections.

Binary formats like DOC typically fail more catastrophically because damage impacts the entire internal structure.

Why does RTF embed images as large hexadecimal text blocks?

RTF aims for universal readability, so it stores images using ASCII text rather than binary data.

This makes the files larger but ensures compatibility with systems that cannot handle binary streams within text formats.

Modern formats embed compressed binary image files directly, avoiding the size overhead of hex encoding.

Why do some RTF features vary between Microsoft Word and LibreOffice?

Different applications interpret or support different subsets of the RTF specification.

Microsoft Word includes proprietary RTF extensions that LibreOffice may ignore or convert differently.

LibreOffice focuses on ODT as its native format, so RTF support, while good, is not fully identical to Word’s behavior.

Why is RTF still widely supported even though it is outdated?

Its simplicity and universality make it valuable for data interchange, basic document generation, and legacy systems.

Developers use RTF when they need quick programmatic generation of formatted documents without complex libraries.

Its reliability and readability keep it alive despite the availability of more advanced formats.

Why does RTF remain popular in programming and automated workflows?

RTF can be generated using plain string operations without specialized libraries, making it extremely easy to automate.

Developers can control formatting programmatically using simple markup commands.

It is ideal for generating reports, invoices, or formatted logs in legacy systems or environments without DOCX libraries.

Why do RTF files sometimes fail to save certain formatting elements?

Because RTF doesn’t support everything—features like advanced tables, SmartArt, comments, footnotes, or fields may be simplified or lost.

Editors may drop unsupported formatting silently when exporting to RTF.

RTF’s limitations make it unsuitable for complex documents, especially those requiring precise layout or multimedia.

Should users choose RTF for modern document workflows?

RTF is excellent for compatibility, simplicity, and safe sharing, especially with unknown or restricted environments.

However, it lacks the advanced features needed for modern collaborative or visually rich documents.

For everyday use, DOCX or ODT is generally recommended unless maximum portability and basic formatting are the priority.