What is a TeX file?
TeX stands for LaTeX document. It was created by Leslie Lamport, on Donald Knuth's TeX and first released in 1984. A .tex file is the source of a document, not the finished pages: commands such as \section and \begin{equation} are typeset into a PDF by LaTeX. It is the standard for papers in mathematics, physics and computer science.
| Type | document |
|---|---|
| Compression | Lossless |
| In a browser | shows as plain text in browsers; LaTeX, Overleaf and TeX editors typeset it |
| Common uses | scientific papers, theses and maths-heavy documents |
| MIME type | application/x-tex |
Which format should you convert TeX to?
- TeX to TXT to get just the words, for copying, searching or pasting elsewhere.
- TeX to MD for documentation, wikis and note apps.
How to open a TeX file
Whether a TeX file opens with a double click depends on the device. Here is what works on each, without buying software:
| Windows | Word or the free LibreOffice opens DOCX; any browser opens HTML; Notepad opens TXT and MD. |
|---|---|
| Mac | Pages or TextEdit open DOCX; Safari opens HTML; TextEdit opens TXT and MD. Apple Books opens EPUB. |
| iPhone and iPad | Pages, Word and the Files app open DOCX; Apple Books opens EPUB. |
| Android | Google Docs and Word open DOCX; Google Play Books opens EPUB. |
| Web browser | TeX shows as plain text in browsers; LaTeX, Overleaf and TeX editors typeset it. |
Want the technical details? See what a .tex file is, with its MIME type, file signature and a viewer.
TeX compared with other document formats
How TeX stacks up against the formats people most often convert it to or from:
| Format | Compression | Usually contains | Released | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TeX | Lossless | text with commands for structure, maths, references and layout | 1984 | scientific papers, theses and maths-heavy documents |
| DOCX | Lossless | formatted text, images, tables and styles in a ZIP of XML files | 2007 | letters, reports, CVs and most documents shared at work |
| TXT | Lossless | characters only, with no formatting | 1963 | notes, logs, extracted text and anything that must open everywhere |
| HTML | Lossless | text with tags for headings, lists, links, tables and images | 1993 | web pages, emails and documents meant to be read in a browser |
| MD | Lossless | plain text with simple symbols for headings, lists, links and emphasis | 2004 | documentation, README files, notes and blogging tools |
How to use the TeX converter
- Choose the format you want in the Convert to menu.
- Drop your TeX files on the box, or press Choose TeX files. Several files can go in at once.
- Adjust the settings if you need to; the defaults suit most people.
- Press Convert and save each file with its Download button. The file is converted on our server and deleted as soon as the result is sent back.
Tips for converting TeX files without losing anything
Converting a TeX file keeps the words exactly; what can change is formatting and layout, depending on what the target format can hold.
- Keep the original document; exporting to plain text or HTML drops layout that cannot be added back.
- Use HTML or Markdown when you want to keep headings, lists and links, and TXT when you only need the words.
- For scanned documents, OCR is the only way to get text; converting the file format alone will not find words in an image.
- Save text as UTF-8 so every language is preserved.
- Check headings after converting to HTML or Markdown; they come from the styles used in the original, so manual bold text stays plain text.
- Plain text has no pages, so page numbers and headers from the original document are dropped.
- For long documents, convert once and search the text output rather than scrolling the original.
- Markdown and HTML both keep links, so check that relative links still point somewhere once the document moves.
Convert TeX files from the command line
pandoc does the same on your own computer:
pandoc input.tex -t gfm -o output.mdConverting 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.
TeX converter FAQ
What is a TeX file?
TeX stands for LaTeX document, a document format created by Leslie Lamport, on Donald Knuth's TeX in 1984. A .tex file is the source of a document, not the finished pages: commands such as \section and \begin{equation} are typeset into a PDF by LaTeX. It is the standard for papers in mathematics, physics and computer science.
How do I open a TeX file?
TeX shows as plain text in browsers; LaTeX, Overleaf and TeX editors typeset it. If the program you need will not open it, convert it to a more widely supported format above.
What is the most common TeX conversion?
TeX to MD is the conversion people search for most. The LaTeX is read by pandoc, the open-source document converter, on our conversion server, which understands sections, lists, emphasis, tables, footnotes, maths and the macros defined in the file itself, and written as GitHub-flavoured Markdown.
Does converting TeX files here upload them?
Yes. TeX conversions need pandoc, an open-source program that cannot run in a browser, so they run on our conversion 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.
Is the TeX converter free?
Yes. There is no sign-up and no watermark. Conversions that use our server accept files up to 25 MB, with a fair-use limit per hour. The site is supported by advertising.
Can I convert TeX files on iPhone or Android?
Yes. Open this page in Safari on iPhone and iPad, or in Chrome on Android, choose your TeX files and download the results to your Downloads folder.
Can I convert several TeX files at once?
Yes. Drop as many as you like; they are converted one after another, each with its own download button.