Plain text (.txt)
Also known as: .txt, TXT file, plain text file, text file
A plain-text file (`.txt`) contains only unformatted text — characters with no fonts, colors, images, or layout. It is the simplest, most universal document format, readable by virtually any device or program.
- Unformatted text — no fonts, colors, or images
- Opens on virtually any device or app
- Tiny in size and highly future-proof
What plain text is
A `.txt` file stores just the characters you type, encoded as text (commonly UTF-8). There are no fonts, sizes, bold, colors, or embedded images — only the words and line breaks themselves.
That simplicity makes plain text universal: it opens in any text editor on any platform, stays tiny in size, and is unlikely to ever become unreadable.
Plain text vs formatted documents
Unlike RTF or word-processor files, plain text carries no styling. Formats like Markdown add formatting by using plain text plus simple symbols, but a raw `.txt` file has no formatting at all — which is exactly why it is used for notes, logs, code, and config.