What you should know
TXT is the simplest format: a sequence of characters, with no formatting, colour or structure. It is read by absolutely everything, from a terminal to a phone notepad.
It is the raw exchange format: notes, logs, lists, program output. Its sobriety makes it durable and predictable — which is why it still underpins many tools.
Strengths
- Readable everywhere, by every system, with no particular software
- Minimal size: a few kilobytes where an image needs thousands
- No dependency on a font or an application
- Easy for a program to process
Limitations to know
- No formatting: no bold, images or tables
- Character encoding to watch (UTF-8, Windows-1252)
- No document structure: no headings or links
- Line breaks differ between Windows, macOS and Linux
When to use it
Use TXT to extract text from a document, feed a tool, log data or write without distraction. For a document meant to be read or printed, prefer a format that carries formatting.
Quality, size and compatibility
Converting to TXT throws away formatting and keeps the text. From PDF, extraction is clean if the document contains text; from a scan, OCR is required. Always check the encoding to avoid broken accents.
Frequently asked questions
- Why are my accents replaced by symbols?
- The file is probably not UTF-8, or was opened with the wrong encoding. Reopen it specifying UTF-8 if the original content allows it.
- Does TXT keep tables?
- No. Columns become spaces or tabs. For a structured table, use a tabular format such as CSV instead.