HexaConverter
rtfhtml

Convert Rich Text to HTML

Free online converter for Rich Text files. Hypertext markup for the web. Nothing to install, no watermark, and every file is deleted automatically.

Drag and drop your files

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Upload a Rich Text file to convert it to HTML. Up to 3 files at once, 100 MB each.

Free · up to 3 files · 100 MB each · files deleted automatically after 1 hour.

About RTF and HTML

Rich Text .rtf

Rich Text Format: formatted text stored as readable plain text markup. A lowest common denominator that almost every word processor understands.

Good for

  • Opens in essentially any word processor, on any platform
  • Keeps basic formatting where plain text cannot
  • Human-readable if you open it in an editor

Trade-offs

  • Much larger than DOCX for the same content
  • No modern layout features
  • Images balloon the file size

application/rtf

HTML .html

The markup language of the web: text wrapped in tags that describe structure, which a browser then renders.

Good for

  • Opens in any browser on any device
  • Structural and accessible when written properly
  • Styleable, linkable and searchable

Trade-offs

  • Appearance depends on the renderer and its stylesheet
  • Images and styles usually live outside the file
  • No fixed pagination — awkward to print predictably

text/html

RTF and HTML side by side

Rich Text compared with HTML
RTFHTML
CompressionPlain text markupPlain text markup
AnimationNoYes — via CSS
Typically used forExchange between unlike word processorsWeb pages, email templates, exported reports

What changes when you convert RTF to HTML

Rendered by LibreOffice

The conversion runs through headless LibreOffice — the same engine behind the desktop suite, not a lookalike parser. It handles ordinary documents faithfully. Where it can drift is on the elaborate: a document leaning on fonts the server does not have will have them substituted, and the substitute rarely occupies exactly the same width, so line and page breaks can move. Heavily designed layouts are worth checking against the original.

Approximated as a web page

A RTF describes fixed pages; HTML describes a document that reflows to whatever window it lands in. The converter maps the styling onto CSS as closely as it can, but there is no page concept on the other side — headers, footers and page numbering have nowhere to go, and precise positioning becomes approximate. Expect a readable document rather than a pixel-accurate copy.

Comments and tracked changes

Editorial metadata is the first thing to go in a format conversion: comments, tracked changes and revision history rarely have an equivalent in HTML and are generally dropped or flattened into the text. Treat the output as a clean copy of the current state of the document. If the review history matters, keep the RTF alongside it.

RTF to HTML questions