

This is especially useful when you’re copying and pasting content from another website. Therefore, when you copy the text to a location where rich text can appear, such as in Google Docs, a post browser, or a social media website, it’ll be pasted in without its formatting. One of the most prominent places where you’ll likely encounter the term “plain text” is in the context of the right-click menu in your web browser or document editor, where you can opt to “Paste as Plain Text” whatever is currently stored in your clipboard. This allows you to edit your settings by simply opening them up in Notepad.
#What is text edit windows#
For example, “.ini” files used to keep configurations for Windows applications are often stored in a plain text format. There is even a large group of people who use plain text for all text editing, from creating grocery lists to typing out full-length novels.Īnother important use of plain text files is that they form most of the underlying infrastructure behind files and web pages. Those are just some of the reasons why many people use text files over more powerful applications like Word.
#What is text edit software#
It also has none of the device or software compatibility issues that come with varying fonts. Plain text is simple, easy to read, and can be read and sent to anyone.
#What is text edit code#
This practice is especially common among programmers and developers, who code in languages constructed with plain text and are used to that environment. Many people opt to use plain text rather than rich text for most of their editing. RELATED: What Is Markdown, and How Do You Use It? The Benefits of Using Plain Text Files Examples of markup languages include HTML, XML, and Markdown. The second is by using something called “markup language,” which is a simple code used to modify text with certain attributes, which is then displayed to the viewer as formatted text. The first is by using a rich document editor, such as Google Docs or Microsoft Office. Rich text is normally constructed in two ways. When any rich text is converted into plain text, all of these elements become lost.

They are automatically formatted according to the standards of the website or app.

Therefore, you cannot add any additional formatting to these elements. Many social media websites, such as Twitter and Instagram, only let you post captions and tweets as plain text, although there are some exceptions, such as hashtags and emoji. However, text files can be opened by virtually any document or text editor, including more powerful applications such as Notepad++, Wordpad, Microsoft Office, or OpenOffice.Īnother place where you can find plain text is input forms in websites and apps. These files are often created and edited by Notepad, the text editor found on every Windows device, or by another text editor. Plain text files are often made by the most basic text file format, which takes on the “.txt” extension. It also only contains standard characters, which are those found in the default set of characters that an application can display. It can also refer to a document that only contains these unformatted characters. It does not take any special formatting, such as varying fonts, font sizes, bold font, or italics.

To put it simply, plain text is any text that isn’t formatted.
