RTF to PDF: Three Free Ways to Convert

RTF — Rich Text Format — is the document format time forgot. Microsoft created it in the eighties so different word processors could exchange files, and it still does that one job: almost anything can open an .rtf. But nobody wants to receive one in 2026, and half the apps that made them are gone (Windows even retired WordPad, its faithful RTF editor, in 2024). Converting to PDF takes about a minute with software you already have.

Windows

With WordPad gone from recent Windows 11 builds, your options are:

1. Microsoft Word (if you have it): open the RTF, then File > Save As > PDF. Best fidelity, keeps working links.
2. Any app that opens it + Print to PDF: even Word's free web version or LibreOffice works. Press Ctrl + P, choose Microsoft Print to PDF, print. If that printer is missing from the list, here's how to restore it.
3. Still on Windows 10? WordPad is still there — open the RTF and print to PDF from it directly.

Mac

TextEdit — already on your Mac — is a fully fluent RTF editor. Open the file, then File > Export as PDF. That's the entire process. Formatting, fonts, and embedded images all carry over.

Any device: Google Docs

Upload the .rtf to Google Drive, open it with Google Docs, then File > Download > PDF Document. Handy on a Chromebook or phone, and you get a chance to fix formatting before exporting. The trade-off, as always with cloud converters: the file goes to Google's servers on the way. For a plain letter that's fine; for anything sensitive, the offline routes above keep it on your machine.

Batch converting a folder of RTFs

Inherited a folder of old .rtf documents? Converting them one at a time is misery. If you're comfortable installing LibreOffice, its command line does the whole folder in one shot:

soffice --headless --convert-to pdf *.rtf

Then, if the results belong together — chapters of one document, say — merge the PDFs into a single file in your browser.

Why bother converting at all?

Because RTF renders differently depending on what opens it — fonts substitute, spacing shifts, and some mail apps preview it as raw code. A PDF looks the same everywhere, which is the whole point of sending one. If you need the reverse someday — turning a PDF back into an editable RTF — that's covered in our PDF to RTF guide. And once converted, the usual finishing tools apply: compress if it's image-heavy, edit if something needs a last-minute fix.