How to Create a Plain Text (ASCII) Resume
- Click Edit → Select All.
- Click Edit → Copy.
- Click Start → Programs → Accessories → Notepad. This opens the Notepad program.
- Click Edit → Paste.
- Turn on the “Word-wrap” feature in the “Format” drop-down menu.
- Save the resume as “yourname. txt” (for example, “JohnGill. txt”).
Besides, How do I make text plain in Word?
Method 2
- open the document in Word,
- do a “Save as” in Word (goto File > Save as),
- select “Save as type” (see image) as “plain text”,
- click “Save”,
- when the dialogue box appears (for non-English OSs) check “allow character substitution” and then click “OK”,
As well as How do I create a simple text file? Another way to create a text file is to right-click an empty area on the desktop, and in the pop-up menu, select New, and then select Text Document. Creating a text file this way opens your default text editor with a blank text file on your desktop. You can change the name of the file to anything you want.
Furthermore What is Rich Text Format in word?
RTF stands for Rich Text Format and is a universal document file format and is easily read by many of the word-processing packages. It is particularly useful to those using a different word-processing package from those used on campus.
How do you create text?
How do I create a text document?
- Go to Resources. …
- To the right of the folder you want to create the text document, click Add / Create Text Document. …
- Enter (or paste) the text into the text box, then click Continue. …
- Enter a Name for the text document, add additional data if needed, then click Finish.
What is plain text format in word?
Plain text (. txt) is a type of digital file that is free of computer tags, special formatting, and code. This is the only file type recognized by the Lexile Analyzer. Note: Copying and pasting or uploading text and text files other than plain text may include computer tags, special formatting, and code.
How do I make text unformatted in word?
Word: Keyboard shortcut to paste unformatted text
- Paste the text and click the little icon at the bottom right of the pasted text, then select Keep Text only. …
- Select Edit > Paste > Paste Special > Unformatted Text from the menu (Word 2003) OR Home tab > Paste > Paste Special > Unformatted Text (Word 2007).
How do I create a text file in Notepad?
In this article
- Introduction.
- 1Choose Start→All Programs→Accessories→NotePad.
- 2Enter text for your document.
- 3Click and drag over the text to select it, and then choose Format→Font.
- 4Click OK.
How do I create a text file in Windows?
Microsoft provides a way of creating a new, blank text file using the right-click menu in File Explorer. Open File Explorer and navigate to the folder where you want to create the text file. Right-click in the folder and go to New > Text Document. The text file is given a default name, New Text Document.
How do you create a text file on mobile?
Create a file
- On your Android phone or tablet, open the Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides app.
- In the bottom right, tap Create .
- Choose whether to use a template or create a new file. The app will open a new file.
How do I open a rich text document?
To Upload: Go to your Google Drive and look for the upload icon. When you click on it, choose Files… Select the . rtf file and click Open.
Is PDF a rich text format?
For a document of nothing but text, an RTF (Rich Text Format) file will suffice. If instead, you need to embed graphics and tables, you will be better off with PDF (Portable Document Format). Even for text-only documents, you need to think whether it will be OK for the program to alter the layout of the documents.
What is the best format to save a text document?
For Plain text files the simplest, and most durable format is ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange). It has been developed since 1963 and must be the single most supported format ever.
How do you convert a PDF to a text file?
How to convert a PDF to a TXT file?
- Choose the PDF file that you want to convert.
- Select TXT as the the format you want to convert your PDF file to.
- Click “Convert” to convert your PDF file.
What is plain text example?
Plain text, Plain-text, or Plaintext is any text, text file, or document containing only text. … The picture is a visual example of plain text vs. formatted text. Most associate plain text files with the file extension .
What is plain text code?
“Plain text is a pure sequence of character codes; plain Un-encoded text is therefore a sequence of Unicode character codes.” styled text, also known as rich text, is any text representation containing plain text completed by information such as a language identifier, font size, color, or hypertext links.
Is CSV plain text?
A comma-separated values (CSV) file is a delimited text file that uses a comma to separate values. Each line of the file is a data record. … A CSV file typically stores tabular data (numbers and text) in plain text, in which case each line will have the same number of fields.
How do I copy just the text in Word?
To paste text directly into a Word document without source formatting, use these steps:
- Open Microsoft Word.
- Create a blank document. …
- Click on File.
- Click on Options.
- Click on Advanced.
- Under the “Cut, copy, and paste” section, use the “Paste from other programs” drop-down menu and select the Keep Text Only option.
Which is not related to text formatting?
Unformatted text is any text that is not associated with any formatting information. It is plain text, containing only printable characters, white space, and line breaks.
How do I paste text into formatting?
To copy formatting:
- Copy text by selecting the Edit>Copy command or the by using the keyboard shortcut Cmd-C.
- Select text that you would like to paste the formatting onto.
- Go to the Edit Menu and Select “Edit Special>Paste Style”.
What is the normal font for Notepad?
The default font in Notepad in Windows 10, is Consolas with Regular style, and font size 11.
How do I convert notepad to plain text?
1. Open TextEdit and then open the document in TextEdit by clicking on Open in the File menu. 2. Click on Format, then Make Plain Text.
How do I print text from Notepad?
Can I print in the Notepad, like as in a Word document? Open Notepad, the text editor , click Edit menu, Print option. Click the General tab, select the printer and the settings that / when you want, and then click Print.
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- Introduction
- What is Plain Text?
- Why Plain Text?
- An Example of the Plain Text Workflow
- Parting Thoughts
Reading time: 10 minute(s) @ 200 WPM.
Introduction
The Plain Text Workflow is an alternative to writing with a word processor. Mind you, I said writing, not typesetting or formatting, which is a major part of what word processors do. The idea of the plain text workflow is that you separate the act of writing from that of producing a formatted, typeset final document. You initially capture your words using a plain text editor, perhaps using a lightweight formatting language like Markdown. Then, using freely-available software such as pandoc, you translate your plain text document into whatever file format you need to provide (to a colleague, reviewer, literary agent, journal editor, blog post, email, website, etc.), be it Microsoft Word, LibreOffice, PDF, HTML, or whatever. You might also bring this translated file into your word processor to continue tweaking the formatting. However, your original words are captured in one or more plain text files, which remain the source from which various other document formats flow. With the plain text workflow, you work in plain text, and all of those other document formats are outputs from your plain text source document.
This concept was described in 1999 by Allin Cottrell:
I am suggesting, therefore, that [there] should be two distinct “moments” in the production of a printed text using a computer. First one types one’s text and gets its logical structure right, indicating this structure in the text via simple annotations. This is accomplished using a text editor, a piece of software not to be confused with a word processor . . . Then one “hands over” one’s text to a typesetting program, which in a very short time returns beautifully typeset copy.
Although Cottrell was talking about printed copy here, he goes on to say that his remarks apply to digital documents as well.
Writing in plain text is not new, and dates back at least to 1978 when the TeX computer typesetting system was created by Donald Knuth. What is new is that writers are increasingly turning (or re-turning) to plain text because they are sick of having to deal with complicated, bloated, expensive word processing software, proprietary file formats that constantly change, incompatibilities across word processor versions and computer platforms (including, now, smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices), collaborators and co-authors who each use a different word processor, et sic porro. Plain text files have been around since the birth of modern computing. HTML, the foundation of the Internet and World Wide Web, is a plain-text markup language. All computer programming source code is written in plain text. And now, as W. Caleb McDaniel has written in Why (and How) I Wrote My Academic Book in Plain Text, it “seems like the ancient past of personal computing is becoming the wave of the future.”
What is Plain Text?
A plain text file differs from a word processor file because plain text contains only the letters, numbers, and symbols that appear on a standard keyboard, known as the ASCII character set. Word processor files, however, contain additional, invisible formatting commands that the software uses to produce fonts, text styles such as boldface and italics, bulleted lists, placeholders for endnotes, footnotes, and bibliographic citations, and so on. Each word processor vendor uses different formatting commands, such that a document file from one vendor’s word processor cannot be used directly in another vendor’s word processor. At the very least, the proprietary file format of word processor A needs to be converted into the proprietary format of word processor B. Often, the files cannot be read at all, or if they can, some of the formatting may be lost in translation.
Plain ASCII text files, on the other hand, are universal and will be readable on any conceivable type of computing device that humanity will produce in the foreseeable future. Although we are not sure at this time how much of the future is foreseeable, the plain text format does alleviate all future and backward compatibility issues. Plain text files are multi-platform: You can edit them on a Mac, iPad, iPhone, Windows PC, Android, Unix/Linux, all without any compatibility worries.
Without plain text files, if you are collaborating on a book with several co-authors and each uses a different word processor (Microsoft Word and Apple Pages and LibreOffice, say), then each author needs to use a different proprietary document format. This can complicate the process of collaboration, because in order for all authors to contribute to the book, each of their word processor file formats would have to be translated, then changes integrated back into the original document, raising the possibility of different versions of the same file getting mixed up, etc., etc. But if all authors are writing in plain text, the file compatibility problem is eliminated because every computer, and all editing software, can read and write plain text. One copy of the plain text document could be kept on a cloud storage medium, such as Dropbox, and every co-author could then edit that same text file directly, using whatever plain text editing software they desired.
And because it is “ubiquitously compatible and futureproof,” plain text is an excellent archival format. In Forget fancy formatting: Why plain text is best, David Sparks writes:
Although modern word processing programs can do some amazing things—adding charts, tables, and images, applying sophisticated formatting—there’s one thing they can’t do: Guarantee that the words I write today will be readable ten years from now.
If you’ve ever dusted off a 3.5-inch floppy disk (or, God forbid, a 5.25-incher), and then dusted off your old external floppy disk drive, fired it up and retrieved that brilliant essay that you wrote in Wordstar back in 1984, you know the problem. That old word processor format is no longer readable, because good old Wordstar has gone extinct. You could try opening the Wordstar file in a plain text editor, but all those proprietary formatting commands have turned your words into gibberish. If Wordstar had used the plain text file format, this problem would not exist.
Another advantage of plain text is that it works well with version control systems (VCS), software that writers can use to archive and retrieve drafts of their writing projects. Long used by software developers to store and track changes in their programming source code, VCSs such as Draft are now available specifically for writers. Benefits of a VCS include tracking every change in a document; tracking writing experiments, while keeping the main file intact; tracking co-authoring and collaboration; and tracking individual contributions. The proprietary, often binary file formats used for word processor files generally do not fare well in a VCS, but plain text files are what VCSs were designed for.
There are distinct advantages to setting down your words in plain text instead of in a word processor. Because plain text editing software is by design fairly minimal and uncomplicated, a writer can concentrate on writing and not be distracted by the myriad of formatting and typesetting options, icons, menus, widgets, gadgets, buttons, and other digitalia that a typical word processor presents. For example, here is a screenshot of Microsoft Word running on a Mac:
And the corresponding screenshot of MacDown, a free plain-text Markdown editor for the Mac:
Any questions?
Another plus is that most computers come with a free editor for plain text, for example Notepad for Windows and TextEdit for the Mac. There are also many third-party free and paid text editors with added features, for Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android.
Furthermore, plain text files can be used with reference management software, such as Zotero, to insert literature citations into the text and to produce formatted bibliographies. While Zotero and other reference managers have toolbar plugins for Microsoft Word, LibreOffice, and OpenOffice, which enable writers to access their references while writing with those word processors, it can also insert plain-text citation markers into plain-text documents. With a couple of additional steps those markers can be converted into formatted literature citations and bibliographies for both footnotes and endnotes. (Of course, users of LaTeX and BibTeX have been doing this for decades, but that’s another blog post.)
In addition to containing links to bibliographic databases, plain text files can include embedded computer code for producing data analyses, simulations, graphics, and other data-based content. For example, using programming statements from R, the open-source statistical and graphics platform, along with a variant of the Markdown language, one can write a single, plain-text document that will produce elegant formatting, an automatically generated table of contents, well-formatted mathematical expressions, tables, crisp figures, and an automatically generated bibliography. (Click here for an example.) With this approach, your plain-text file becomes not only the source of your finished, typeset document, but also maintains a record of the data management and analysis steps taken to arrive at your final result. For more details, see RStudio as a Research and Writing Platform.
By now I hope that I have convinced you that there are numerous advantages to writing in plain text. We now turn to an example.
An Example of the Plain Text Workflow
The following example uses Markdown as the starting point. The name Markdown is a play on the word markup. Probably the best-known markup language is HTML, or hypertext markup language, which is used to “mark up” a plain text file to create Web pages. HTML creates its markup with “tags.” If you look at a list of HTML tags, you will see that there are a lot of them. Markdown, in contrast, is what is known as a lightweight markup language, having a simple syntax that is easy to create using any text editor. Because it has a lightweight syntax, Markdown is easy to read in its raw form, unlike markup languages such as HTML and XML.
Click here to view an example of a Markdown file, and here to view the file rendered as HTML. You could also open the Markdown text in a Markdown-friendly editor, like MacDown, and be able to view the original Markdown and its HTML rendering side-by-side. More information on Markdown and its syntax can be found here.
Markdown’s lightweight syntax allows you to create a plain text source document on any text editor, on any computing device. The aim of the plain text workflow is to provide a simple means of setting down words efficiently. As mentioned earlier, keeping this Markdown file on a cloud storage account such as Dropbox would make it accessible, and editable, from any computing device that was synced to the Dropbox account, including mobile devices.
Using the MacDown editor, we can export this Markdown file to either HTML or PDF. However, the pandoc file conversion utility lets us convert Markdown files to any of the major word processor document formats (as well as a number of other formats). These include HTML, docx, ODT, EPUB, LaTeX, and PDF.
Pandoc is free and runs on all major computer platforms. Installation instructions are here, and the essential instructions can be found here. Greatly more detailed instructions are here, meant for people who are “command-line experts.”
Yes, pandoc is a command-line tool. There is no graphical user interface, no menu system, no point-and-click to pandoc. It’s a blinking cursor, waiting for you to type a command. But do not be afraid. We will work through a simple example, which most of the time will be all that you need.
Once pandoc is installed, you need to open up a terminal window, also called a command prompt or command shell. The exact way you would open up a command-line interface will vary according to your computer platform, but all of them basically look something like this:
To verify that pandoc is installed correctly, type:
pandoc --version
and you should see something that looks like:
pandoc 1.18
Compiled with pandoc-types 1.17.0.4, texmath 0.8.6.6, highlighting-kate 0.6.3
Default user data directory: /Users/rlent/.pandoc
Copyright (C) 2006-2016 John MacFarlane
Web: http://pandoc.org
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.
There is no warranty, not even for merchantability or fitness
for a particular purpose.Let’s try converting our markdown file, which, if you download it, should be renamed to markdown.md, to a Microsoft Word docx file. The conversion command is as follows:
pandoc -s -f markdown -t docx markdown.md -o markdown.docx
The first item typed on the command line is the name of the application, pandoc. The other items are command-line options, and are simply a sequence of options telling pandoc what we want it to do. Thus the -s means we want a “standalone” file, that is, a complete file and not just a piece of a file. The -f means “from,” meaning we want to convert from Markdown (the next item) to (the -t) a docx file (Starting to get it?). Next is the name of the input file (markdown.md), followed by -o for “output,” then the name we want to give to the converted file (markdown.docx).
For all of this to work, you need to be in the folder (directory) of your computer’s filesystem where the input file is located. In the command window you would have to use the cd command to navigate to the proper location. See Getting started with pandoc for more details.
You will also need the picture of the guy with the big fish downloaded into the same folder.
Assuming that everything worked, you should now have a file called markdown.docx, which if opened in Microsoft Word should look like a bona fide Word file, with proper formatting as created in the original, plain-text Markdown file.
What if a colleague didn’t have Word and instead wanted a PDF file? Just type:
pandoc -s -f markdown markdown.md -o markdown.pdf
Pandoc can figure out that you want PDF output by the filename extension specified on the output file.
Parting Thoughts
Other workflows, of course, are possible. You could capture your words in longhand with pen and paper and then type your manuscript into a computer file. You could dictate into a computer or smartphone, and software will automagically convert your spoken words to text. If you write exclusively on one computer, are happy with your word processing software, and you’re getting published, then that system is working and you may not want to mess with it. If a group of co-authors all agree to use the same word processing software, then the collaborative writing project is made easier. (Unless the word processor vendor goes out of business, changes its file format, or releases a new version of the software that no longer works with your favorite reference manager.) You should use whatever writing workflow enables you to initially capture your words, edit them, and then produce a finished product, be it printed on paper or stored in a digital file.
Like many things in computing, the plain text workflow is just one of numerous options. (Remember that Yahoo stands for You Always Have Other Options.) But unlike many of the alternatives, plain text has been around a long time, will continue to be around, and is resistant to change. Using the tools described here, the plain text workflow can give you “the reckless freedom to write anywhere.”
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If you use Microsoft Word (or a similar word processor), you probably know well enough how to save a document. You click Save, choose a folder, give the document a name, and then click Save, OK, or whatever.
What you may not know is how to choose a different format for that document, or why you’d want to.
By default, Microsoft Word uses its own, proprietary document format. In the old days, that was the Doc format, but as of Word 2007 (and continuining with Word 2010), it’s Docx.
Other word processors have their own standards as well. OpenOffice Writer, for example, uses the OpenDocument, or ODF, format. Kingsoft Writer uses a format called WPS. And so on.
Fortunately, these and other programs can save documents in multiple formats, thereby making them easier to access in, well, other programs. That’s why, in Microsoft Word, if you click the Save as type pull-down in the Save dialog, you’ll see a wealth of choices. Below I’ve identified some of the more popular ones, and in what circumstances you might use them.
Rich Text Format RTF might best be described as a “universal word-processing format,” as it’s supported by just about every word processor. However, unlike plain text, it retains basic formatting information, like font sizes and styles.
PDF Adobe’s Portable Document Format also has universal appeal, as it can be opened using any number of viewers (including, most commonly, Adobe Reader). You’d use PDF to produce your document in a read-only format, meaning it couldn’t easily be edited. It’s also a good way to distribute documents online, as most browsers can view PDFs without the need to download them fist.
Plain Text Just like it sounds, this format saves only the raw text–no formatting, no hidden codes, just your words. You might use this to export text that needs to be imported into another program, like a blog tool or text editor–something that won’t like all of Word’s underlying extras.
Word 97-2003 Document So you’ve got Word 2010, but your parents are still plugging along with Word 97. The latter can’t open documents created by the former (not without a converter, anyway), but at least Word lets you save files using the older formats. Some kinds of formatting may get lost in translation, but this should work for most kinds of documents.
Word can also save files as Web pages, XML documents, templates, and more. Needless to say, if you need to learn about those formats, a little Google searching should reveal all.
Contributing Editor Rick Broida writes about business and consumer technology. Ask for help with your PC hassles at hasslefree@pcworld.com, or try the treasure trove of helpful folks in the PC World Community Forums. Sign up to have the Hassle-Free PC newsletter e-mailed to you each week.
Having covered some bigger topics, I decided to write this simple plain text vs. rich text comparison post, within which I’ll try to explain both types, which is the best, and when it is good to use either file type.
A plain text file is as plain as they come, it has no text formatting; which means no font sizes and colors, bolding or italics, or other types of markup.
All it has are plain text, line breaks, and spacing. That’s all!
A rich text file, which is the default format for Microsoft Word and similar popular word processors, is as the name suggests is richer and allows formatting.
Let’s compare the two, but before we get to that part, let me briefly explain an RTF file.
What is an RTF File
This is a cross-platform document file format with better text adjustability than plain text files.
This file format allows the user to perform several formatting tasks, such as font sizes and colors, bolding, italics, and others.
Being a cross-platform file means that RTF allows the exchange of text files between different editors. RTF is the default format of popular word processors like Microsoft Word, Google Docs, Apple Pages and Notes, and many others.
What is Plain Text
In layman’s terms, plain text is any text that isn’t formatted or unformatted documents. It doesn’t have any special formatting (i.e., downloadable font types, font sizes, bold font, or italics).
Plain text only uses standard characters, and they are available on almost any application used for typing.
Rich Text Files vs. Plain Text Files: The Differences between Them
There are several differences between rich text files and plain text files—most of which have to do with formatting—and here are some of them:
Pictures
While RTF supports the inclusion of JPEG, PNG, Enhanced Metafile (EMF), Windows Metafile (WMF), Apple PICT, and other picture formats, plain text files do not.
Although some of these picture types might not be supported on a few RTF readers and won’t be displayed, most RTF writers usually convert an unsupported picture type to a supported picture type.
To go around this picture format compatibility issue, writers include the same picture in two different picture types in one document—there’s a higher chance of one format being a supported type.
Interoperability
Most word processing software and email platforms support the RTF format importing, and this makes it a cross-platform format; on the other hand, plain text can be used on almost all systems without a single issue. This is also one of the main differences between rich text formats and plain text files.
Most applications that read RTF files can read many RTF dialects, including the ones unknown to them. Documents with foreign dialects still display basic formatting elements such as bold, italics, text underlining and alignment, font specification, and document margins.
If I were to give the two types of files an interoperability score, I’d give RTF 87% percent and Plain text files would get 98%.
Objects
Applications that handle rich text files allow users to import objects such as tables or charts from spreadsheet applications.
Although these objects are not widely supported in some RTF programs, they are available on Windows and Mac word processors.
The RTF processing programs also allow the drawing of objects or shapes, such as rectangles, ellipses, lines, arrows, and polygons.
If you have used a plain .txt file processor, you know that the best you do is objects (whether drawn or imported) are out of the question.
This is Why Should You Use Plain Text
1. Ease of use
Plain text files do not come with any complicated structures or appurtenances, and this characteristic makes them easy to use.
There is an almost flat learning curve and it’s extremely easy to type for the first time. You don’t have to worry about format, shortcuts, or format—just type away!
And plain text files don’t require third-party apps as most operating systems have built-in applications for making .txt files
2. Portability
What I like about plain text files is that they are portable and work with practically almost any operating system.
I already touched on this when I compared the interoperability of RTF and plain text.
I already gave it 98% because plain text files can be used on Windows, Mac OS, iOS, Android, Windows Phone, and all Linux distros.
This means that “compatibility issues” don’t exist for .txt files and can be opened by pretty much any document or text creation software.
3. Plain Text Files Are Fast
I do not think there’s a 21st-century computer that can struggle with .txt files or .txt processing software.
The case is slightly different for word processors that can handle RTF because they’re built to handle more complex features like tables, pictures, and macros.
Being without all features, .txt files open quickly and easily. Plus, .txt files are smaller in size than other file types, making them easier to transfer. That is not all, operating systems find it easier to index plain text files, and this means they’ll show up faster in system-wide searches.
4. Not Distractive
With plain text, you neither waste time looking at fancy formatting features nor on extra grammar and spell checking features.
The text is simple, all you have to do is write! Nothing else.
This is Why You Shouldn’t Use Plain Text
If you’re writing official documents, writing a blog post for instant publishing, writing an academic assignment that needs some diagrams and objects, or if you need to craft a story with elaborate formatting; don’t use plain text.
In fact, plain text should only be used for small documents that you can format later.
Final Words on Rich Text vs. Plain Text
Choosing between rich text and plain text is a matter of convenience—when you want to write quickly and easily without any distractions, plain text is a better option.
They’re also perfect if you want to access the document on various applications or operating systems.
On the other hand, rich text is convenient when you want to format and style your document— Google Docs, Scrivener, Word, and Co are popular because they have features for handling rich text.
As long as you know the benefits, stick to your cup of tea.
This article pits plain text vs rich text and explains when to use either file type.
Plain text or .txt files are a simple and practical format that belongs in every writer or blogger’s workflow.
A plain text file is a document that contains no formatting, images, colors or other types of markup. It also includes single line breaks and spacing.
A rich text file is the default format of popular word-processors like Microsoft Word, Apple Pages and Notes, a Google Doc, and even HTML emails.
Here are five unexpected benefits of plain text files.
Contents
- 1. You Don’t Have to Worry if People Can Open Them
- 2. Plain Text Files are Light and Fast
- 3. It’s Quicker to Write Something Short in a Plain Text Editor
- 4. Plain Text Files are Flexible
- 5. Plain Text Always Looks the Same
- Tip: Use Markdown While Writing Plain Text
- The Final Word: Plain Text Vs Rich Text:
- Plain Text Vs Rich Text Files: FAQS
- Author
1. You Don’t Have to Worry if People Can Open Them
You don’t need special software or tools to open a plain text file. This is a real problem for certain formats, as those who have tried to open a .docx file on older versions of Word understand.
It’s not always possible for various word processing applications to open certain file types.
If the file format is plain text, you’re guaranteed that anyone can open them on any system. Plain text files have been around longer than many operating systems, and they’re not going anywhere.
2. Plain Text Files are Light and Fast
Older computers can struggle with the latest word processors. Tables, pictures and macros can bog down large documents, as can pages of text. On the other hand, text files lack all these kind of fancy features and, for this reason, they open quickly and easily.
They’re also smaller in size than proprietary word processing files, making them easier to email and share with others. And it’s easier for operating systems to index plain text files, which means they appear quicker in system-wide searches.
3. It’s Quicker to Write Something Short in a Plain Text Editor
Word, Pages and the various other word processors feature a wealth of templates, options, tools and menus designed for complex jobs.
Sometimes all a writer needs is somewhere to type, a spell checker and some basic formatting options.
All of those menus, ribbons and inspectors can be distracting. And they slow writing down. TextEdit, Notepad and Vim deserve some love.
And there are plenty of other plain text editors that are just as good looking as their proprietary big brothers.
4. Plain Text Files are Flexible
You can easily copy and paste the contents of a plain text file into any document or application. It’s not possible to say the same about specialist applications that use proprietary databases or formats.
I sometimes write up articles in plain text and copy and paste the results into Grammarly (read our Grammarly review). Then, I worry about formatting.
In other words, if it’s in plain text to begin with, it’s easy to migrate to a more complex application. If it’s in a complex application to begin with, it’s a lot more time-consuming to go back to plain text.
5. Plain Text Always Looks the Same
You can spend hours formatting a document in a word processor, only for someone else to open it and find it looks slightly different on their machine.
The format of a plain text file looks the same on any system.
Granted plain text editors lack complex formatting options but these are often features that aren’t needed until the document is near completion.
When you’re at this stage, you should consider exporting the document to a PDF.
Tip: Use Markdown While Writing Plain Text
Markdown is way of formatting plain text documents for the web using the following characters:
- Asterix for italics
- Double asterix for italics
- A single hashtag for H1
- A double hashtag for H2
- and so on
You can write in a plain text file as usual and then copy it to a rich text editor. Many of these will recognize Markdown and apply formatting appropriately. This workflow works well with the WordPress Gutenberg editor.
It’s a type of markup language. Check out the full list of Markdown syntax.
Alternatively, use an app like IA Writer or Byword. It’ll save your work as plain text. But, you can copy across a pre-formatted document if written in Markdown.
The Final Word: Plain Text Vs Rich Text:
If you want to write something quickly and easily and copy and paste it into various applications, opt for plain text. When you’re ready to format and style your document, opt for rich text. If you use Google Docs and Word Extensively, stick with rich text.
Want to learn more? Check out our list of the best writing apps.
What is the difference between rich text and plain text?
A plain text document lacks any formatting, colors, images, styles and media. It’s typically a .txt file. Rich text documents includes all of these.
What is rich text format used for?
People use rich text for format and style a document. It’s also used when someone wants to add other media like imagery.
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Bryan Collins runs things around here. He’s also a non-fiction writer and author.
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