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TXT
What is a TXT file?
Characters and nothing else. Will still open in fifty years.
What TXT is
TXT is a plain-text format you can open in any editor. It is used for moving data between programs and archiving.
The extension is .txt, and the full name is Plain Text. Both matter less than what the file can hold, which is what the rest of this page is about.
Where TXT came from
It dates from 1963. The specification is Unicode.
A format that has been readable for that long is a format worth trusting with something you want back in ten years.
The specification is public
Anyone can implement it without asking permission or paying a licence, which is why it turns up in so many programs and why files written twenty years ago still open.
Nothing is thrown away
TXT stores its content exactly. Saving it again changes nothing, so it can be opened, edited and re-saved as often as you like without accumulating damage — which is what makes it a working format rather than a delivery one.
What opens TXT
Notepad, TextEdit and Visual Studio Code read it, and so do most programs of the same kind.
If a file will not open, the format is rarely the problem — it is more often that the program predates it. Converting to something older is the reliable way past that, and it is what the rest of this site is for.
Opening it in a browser
Every current browser reads it.
That makes it a safe thing to put on a page or attach to a message without wondering what the other end has installed.
It is a working format
TXT is meant to be opened and changed. Keep the file in this format for as long as the work is going on, and export from it whenever a finished copy is needed.
The facts, in one place
| Extension | .txt, .text, .log |
|---|---|
| Media type | text/plain |
| First published | 1963 |
| Specification | Unicode |