AW to RTF Converter

Free AW to RTF online conversion — preserve formatting portably

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Broad Compatibility

RTF is understood by word processors on every platform. Converting AW to RTF gives your documents maximum portability.

Rapid Processing

Get results in seconds. The conversion engine handles AW to RTF transformations quickly on dedicated servers.

Batch Support

Upload multiple AW files and convert them all to RTF at once — no need to repeat the process for each document.

How to convert AW to RTF

1

Select files from Computer, Google Drive, Dropbox, URL or by dragging it on the page.

2

Choose rtf or any other format you need as a result (more than 200 formats supported)

3

Let the file convert and you can download your rtf file right afterwards

About formats

AW is the document format of Applix Words, the word processor component of the Applix office suite (later renamed Anyware Office) developed by Applix, Inc. for Unix and Linux workstations. The suite targeted enterprise Unix environments during the 1990s, providing word processing, spreadsheet, graphics, and presentation capabilities on platforms like Solaris, HP-UX, AIX, and Linux where Microsoft Office was unavailable. AW files store formatted text documents with support for character and paragraph styling, page layout, tables, headers and footers, and embedded graphics. The format uses a proprietary binary structure optimized for the Applix application's internal document model. Applix Words gained particular visibility in the Linux community during the late 1990s when it was bundled with several commercial Linux distributions as their default word processor before OpenOffice.org became widely available. One advantage was native Unix platform support — Applix provided professional word processing capabilities on Unix workstations at a time when few commercial alternatives existed. The format's tight integration with other Applix suite components enabled cross-referencing between word processing documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. Applix was acquired by Cognos in 2003, and the office suite was discontinued. AW files are primarily encountered today in archived documents from Unix enterprise environments of the 1990s and early 2000s.
Developer: Applix, Inc.
Initial release: 1992
RTF (Rich Text Format) is a document interchange format developed by Microsoft and first published in 1987 with Word 3.0. The format encodes document content and formatting as plain ASCII text using control words (backslash-prefixed commands) and groups (curly-brace-delimited sections) that describe fonts, character formatting, paragraph layout, tables, images, and page setup. Because RTF is fundamentally a text format with no binary components, documents pass cleanly through any text channel — email systems, clipboard operations, and cross-platform transfers — without corruption. Microsoft designed RTF explicitly as a cross-application and cross-platform exchange format, and it achieved broad adoption: virtually every word processor, text editor, and document tool on every operating system has supported RTF reading and writing for decades. One advantage is exceptional cross-platform compatibility — an RTF document created on any application renders with consistent formatting on any other, making it the most reliable format for text exchange between incompatible systems. The text-based structure provides another benefit: RTF files resist corruption, are trivially generated by programs (requiring only string concatenation), and can be debugged by reading the raw markup in a text editor. While RTF lacks modern features like tracked changes and advanced layout controls, and Microsoft declared the specification frozen at version 1.9.1 in 2008, the format persists as a dependable interchange option where DOCX compatibility cannot be assumed.
Developer: Microsoft
Initial release: 1987

Frequently Asked Questions

Why choose RTF as the target format?

RTF retains basic formatting while being readable by virtually every word processor — a safe choice for legacy recovery.

What applications support RTF?

Microsoft Word, LibreOffice Writer, WordPad, TextEdit on Mac, Google Docs, and most other text editors open RTF files.

Does RTF preserve images and tables?

RTF supports embedded images, tables, and text styling. Complex layouts may simplify slightly during conversion.

Is the AW to RTF tool free?

Yes, converting AW to RTF is free. Premium accounts unlock higher file size limits and faster processing queues.

How long does the conversion take?

RTF conversion is quick — most AW documents process in a matter of seconds thanks to cloud-based infrastructure.

Can I convert from a mobile device?

Yes. The converter runs in any modern browser on phones, tablets, laptops, and desktops without extra software.

AW to RTF Quality Rating

3.0 (1 votes)
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