HTM to RTF Converter

What happens when you convert HTM to RTF

• The page is read by pandoc, the open-source document converter, on our conversion server: headings, paragraphs, lists, tables, links, bold and italic, and written as Rich Text Format, which opens in WordPad, TextEdit, Word and every other word processor.
• The converter reads nothing but the file itself, so images linked from it are left out; only images embedded in the file as data URIs are kept. CSS styling, scripts and forms are ignored.
• This conversion runs on our server: the file is uploaded, converted, and deleted together with the result as soon as the result has been sent back to you. Nothing is kept. Files up to 25 MB are accepted.

How to convert HTM to RTF online

1. Press "Choose HTM files" and select one or more files, or drag them onto the box. Files up to 25 MB each can be converted.
2. There are no settings to choose: the converter keeps everything the target format can hold.
3. Press "Convert to RTF". The file is uploaded to our conversion server, converted in a few seconds, and deleted together with the result as soon as the result is sent back.
4. Save each RTF with its download button. Our server has already deleted both your HTM and the RTF by then.

Why convert HTM to RTF?

HTM files usually come from web pages saved from Word, Outlook and older Windows programs. People convert them to RTF because RTF opens in almost every word processor, including WordPad and TextEdit.

In short, HTM is good at what it was made for, and RTF is the more practical choice when the file has to open, upload or print somewhere else. HTM opens in every web browser, while RTF opens in Word, WordPad, TextEdit, Pages and LibreOffice.

How to convert HTM to RTF on Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android

On Windows

Open this page in Chrome, Edge or Firefox, drag your HTM files in from File Explorer, and press Convert. Each RTF is saved to your Downloads folder.

On a Mac

Safari, Chrome and Firefox all work. Drag the HTM files from Finder onto the drop zone and the RTF files land in Downloads.

On iPhone and iPad

Open the page in Safari and tap Choose HTM files. You can pick from Photos or from the Files app. The converted RTF appears in Files, in the Downloads folder.

On Android

Open the page in Chrome, tap Choose HTM files and pick them from Files or your gallery. The RTF is saved to the Download folder, where any file manager can find it.

Best settings for HTM to RTF

There are no settings: pandoc's defaults give a clean, standard result that is easy to restyle.

If something is missing, check whether it depended on a file outside the HTM; the converter reads the file alone.

HTM vs RTF: the differences

About HTM and RTF files

What is an HTM file?

HTM and HTML are the same format. The three-letter extension dates from old Windows systems that only allowed three characters after the dot, and Word and Outlook still save web pages as .htm.

What is an RTF file?

RTF describes formatting with plain-text control words such as \b for bold, so almost every word processor since the late 1980s can read it. It cannot reliably hold newer features such as threaded comments or complex page layouts.

HTM to RTF not working? Common problems

• "Files up to 25 MB can be converted." Server conversions have a size limit. Compress the images inside the file, or split it, and try again.
• "The conversion took too long and was stopped." Very long or complex files can pass the 90 second limit. Split the file and convert the parts.
• "This file is not really in HTM format." The converter checks every file before it runs anything, so a file of another format renamed to .htm is refused. Choose the page for its real format.

Convert HTM to RTF from the command line

pandoc does the same on your own computer:

pandoc input.htm -o output.rtf

Converting on your own computer keeps the file entirely local, which is worth it for very large or very sensitive documents. For everything else, the converter on this page does it without installing anything.