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Markdown · RTF to MD

Convert RTF to Markdown

Migrate legacy RTF documents to clean Markdown. Strips RTF control words, preserves paragraph structure and basic formatting. Pandoc recommended for high-fidelity conversion.

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Free, no signup. Up to 1 MB per request.

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Legacy formatFast migrationMigration guide

This tool handles

  • RTF wrapper and font/color tables stripped
  • \par paragraph breaks
  • \b and \i inline toggles
  • \'XX hex character escapes

Not in scope

  • Embedded images ({\pict} groups)
  • Tables (\trowd structure)
  • Merge fields ({\field} groups)

Try it live with the widget above — paste and see the output instantly. For the items under “Not in scope,” the migration guide below covers workarounds and when to use a different tool.

Specimens

RTF to Markdown examples

Paste real RTF in the left column, see the Markdown output on the right.

Simple bold text

RTF

{\rtf1\ansi \b Hello\b0 world}

Markdown

**Hello** world

Paragraph break

RTF

{\rtf1 line1\par line2}

Markdown

line1 line2

Accented character

RTF

{\rtf1 caf\'e9}

Markdown

café

How RTF-to-Markdown conversion works

01

Paste RTF source — Paste the contents of your .rtf file (open in a text editor) into the input field.

02

Convert — Click Convert — control words are stripped and basic formatting maps to Markdown.

03

Copy — Copy the Markdown or download as `.md`.

RTF edge cases we handle

Fonts and colors drop

Font family, size, and color directives are stripped — Markdown has no equivalent. Visual styling does not survive the migration.

Underline maps to bold

Markdown has no underline syntax; `\ul` → `**bold**` as a safe fallback. Replace with inline HTML `<u>` if underline is load-bearing.

Embedded images drop

`{\pict …}` image data is stripped. Extract images separately (open in Word/TextEdit) before conversion and re-embed as Markdown images.

Tables flatten to text

RTF table syntax (`\trowd`, `\cell`, `\row`) is stripped but cells flow as continuous text. Hand-convert to GFM pipe tables or use Pandoc.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What RTF elements are preserved?

Paragraphs, headings, bold, italic, underline (mapped to bold), and basic lists are preserved.

Are embedded images supported?

No — embedded images are stripped with placeholder comments.

How does it compare to Pandoc for RTF?

Pandoc has higher RTF fidelity. Our tool is faster for simple documents without complex formatting.

What about RTF control words?

RTF control words (\b, \i, \pard, etc.) are stripped and their semantic meaning is mapped to Markdown.

Where next

Related Tools

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