A text file is a file that contains text, but there are several different ways to think about that, so it's important to know the kind you have before dealing with a program that can open or convert the text file.

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Cleaning up temp files in Mac OS X. Ask Question. Mac OS X temporary files are stored in /tmp and /private/var/folders. Copy all the text of an entire `man` page from Terminal.app How do states trust each other to comply with treaties? Best Text Editors for macOS. Note: In this article, we are focusing on the best text editors for coding but if you are looking for a text editor for your writing purposes, you can check out our article on the best writing apps for Mac. Sublime Text 3. Sublime Text is probably one of the most famous text editors available for Mac and for all the right reasons.

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Some text files use the .TXT file extension and don't contain any images, but others might contain both images and text but still be called a text file or even abbreviated as a 'txt file,' which can be confusing.

Types of Text Files

In the general sense, a text file refers to any file that has only text and is void of images and other non-text characters. These sometimes use the TXT file extension but don't necessarily need to. For example, a Word document that is an essay containing just text can be in the DOCX file format but still be called a text file.

Another kind of text file is the 'plain text' file. This is a file that contains zero formatting (unlike RTF files), meaning nothing is bold, italic, underlined, colored, using a special font, etc. Several examples of plain text file formats include ones that end in XML, REG, BAT, PLS, M3U, M3U8, SRT, IES, AIR, STP, XSPF, DIZ, SFM, THEME, and TORRENT.

Of course, files with the .TXT file extension are text files too and are commonly used to store things that can be easily opened with any text editor or written to with a simple script. Examples might include storing step-by-step instructions for how to use something, a place to hold temporary information, or logs generated by a program (though those are usually stored in a LOG file).

'Plaintext,' or cleartext files, are different than 'plain text' files (with a space). If file storage encryption or file transfer encryption is not used, the data can be said to exist in plaintext or be transferred over plaintext. This can be applied to anything that should be secured but isn't, be it emails, messages, plain text files, passwords etc., but it's usually used in reference to cryptography.

How to Open a Text File

All text editors should be able to open any text file, especially if there isn't any special formatting being used. For example, TXT files can be opened with the built-in Notepad program in Windows by right-clicking the file and choosing Edit. Similar for TextEdit on a Mac.

Another free program that can open any text file is Notepad++. Once installed, you can right-click the file and choose Edit with Notepad++.

Notepad++ is just one of our favorite text editors.

Most web browsers and mobile devices can open text files too. However, since most of them are not built to load text files using the various extensions you mind them using, you might need to first rename the file extension to .TXT if you want to use those applications to read the file.

Some other text editors and viewers include Microsoft Word, TextPad, Notepad2, Geany, and Microsoft WordPad.

Additional text editors for macOS include BBEdit and TextMate. Linux users can also try the Leafpad, gedit, and KWrite text openers/editors.

Open Any File as a Text Document

Something else to understand here is that any file can be opened as a text document even if it doesn't contain readable text. Doing this is useful when you're not sure what file format it's really in, like if it's missing a file extension or you think it's been identified with an incorrect file extension.

For example, you can open an MP3 audio file as a text file by plugging it into a text editor like Notepad++. You can't play the MP3 this way but you can see what it's made up of in text form since the text editor is only able to render the data as text.

With MP3s in particular, the very first line should include 'ID3' to indicate that it's a metadata container that might store information like an artist, album, track number, etc.

Another example is the PDF file format; every file starts off with the '%PDF' text on the first line, even though it'll be completely unreadable.

How to Convert Text Files

The only real purpose for converting text files is to save them into another text-based format like CSV, PDF, XML, HTML, XLSX, etc. You can do this with most advanced text editors but not the simpler ones since they generally only support basic export formats like TXT, CSV, and RTF.

For example, the Notepad++ program mentioned above is capable of saving to a huge number of file formats, like HTML, TXT, NFO, PHP, PS, ASM, AU3, SH, BAT, SQL, TEX, VGS, CSS, CMD, REG, URL, HEX, VHD, PLIST, JAVA, XML, and KML.

Other programs that export to a text format can probably save to a few different kinds, typically TXT, RTF, CSV, and XML. So if you need a file from a specific program to be in a new text format, consider returning to the application that made the original text file, and export it to something else.

All that said, text is text so long as it's plain text, so simply renaming the file, swapping one extension for another, might be all you need to do to 'convert' the file.

Also, see our list of Free Document Converter Software Programs for some additional file converters that work with various types of text files.

Is Your File Still Not Opening?

Are you seeing jumbled text when you open your file? Maybe most if it, or all of it, is completely unreadable. The most likely reason for this is that the file is not plain text.

Like we mentioned above, you can open any file with Notepad++, but like with the MP3 example, it doesn't mean that you can actually use the file there. If you try your file in a text editor and it's not rendering like you think it should rethink how it should open; it's probably not in a file format that can be explained in human-readable text.

If you have no idea how your file should open, consider trying some popular programs that work with a wide variety of formats. For example, while Notepad++ is great for seeing the text version of a file, try dragging your file into VLC media player to check if it's a media file that contains video or sound data.

Top 5 Text Editors for Mac

Text editing is a very important part of a developer’s life. This is even more significant for Mac developers, who are accustomed to a captivating environment. For them, there is a good selection of software. Here below, is a description of five top text editors for Mac. For each of them, the highlights and downsides are detailed.

1. UltraEdit

UltraEdit is a commercial software that has been in the market since 1994. However, it has a free trial period of 15 or 30 days, depending on usage. It is well received amongst developers, and in 2006 Softpedia considered it as excellent.

UltraEdit stands out because of its multiple features, which are true aids to development. These features include many editing tools, such as automation via macros and scripts, configurable syntax highlighting, code folding, file type conversions, regular expression find and replace, column edit mode, and Unicode and hex editing mode. These utilities are complemented with an interface for APIs.

In addition, UltraEdit has functionality for comparing files, file encryption and decryption, remote editing via FTP, and project management.

Overall, UltraEdit is a best text editor for Mac as its comprehensive collection of utilities are a definite aid to any developer.

2. Brackets

Brackets is an open source and free text editor, initially created by Adobe Systems, and at present maintained on GitHub. It has been available since 2014, and it is regularly updated. This text editor Mac is written in HTML, CSS and JavaScript. It is cross platform, and aimed at Web Development.

This free text editor Mac has an impressive set of functionalities. They include Quick Edit, which allows for inline editing of CSS, Color Property, and JavaScript elements; and Live Preview, which puts code edits instantly to the browser, presenting an updated webpage as the code is changed. Live Preview is based on a Node.js backend, which predicts what the code does as the developer types the code.

Other popular functions include element highlighting, where elements selected in HTML and CSS files are highlighted within the browser; and Split View, which creates splits of windows either vertically or horizontally.

Brackets supports multiple file formats, covering over 38 file types, including C++, C, VB Script, Java, JavaScript, HTML, Python, Perl, and Ruby.

In addition, this free text editor Mac includes a feature named PSD lens, which enables the extraction of pictures, logos and design styles from PSD files without the need of opening Photoshop. Brackets richness is enhanced by its extensions, which empowers users to create additional functionality.

Summarizing, Brackets presents a popular and great choice, which in addition to being free, has many very useful features for code development.

3. Komodo Edit

Komodo Edit is an open source free text editor Mac, with a very good user interface that makes it useful for writing code and other things. This app has several useful tools for editing, such as the capacity to track changes, autocomplete, multiple section, skin and icon sets, and a markdown viewer.

Coupled with them, are multi-language support, a friendly toolbox, commando, and a projects and places manager. This editor is an offprint of the well-known Komodo IDE, from where it inherits many of its good characteristics.

Overall, it is a very professional and complete tool, with an interface that stands out. In addition, it is free and open source, meaning that the code is available to anyone wanting to use it.

4. Sublime Text

Sublime Text is a commercial text editor Mac. However, it offers an evaluation version for unlimited time, making it free in practice. Currently it is in version 2, with a beta version 3.

This editor comes with a Python Application Programming Interface (API), and supports many languages. Besides, its functionality can be enhanced via plugins, typically developed by communities and available under free software licenses.

Sublime Text has a user friendly interface, with 22 different themes to choose from. Amongst its most interesting features is the distraction free mode, which consists of having only the text in the center of the screen.

Other functionalities are an advanced customization capacity, based on simple JSON files; and split editing, which can be done with two different files or with different parts of one file.

In brief, its quick navigation to files and lines, its cross-platform support, and project-based preferences, make this app being frequently rated as “best text editor for Mac”.

5. Atom

Atom is a free and open source text editor Mac, written in Node.js and embedded in GitControl. It can be used as a plain text editor Mac, or a source code editor. Through the use of plug-ins, this app supports many languages such as HTML, CSS, C/C++, Objective-C, Java, Go, C#, JavaScript, Python, PHP, Perl, XML, Mustache, Clojure, Ruby, and several more, making it a useful tool for the modern developer.

Some of its useful characteristics include multi-tabbed editing, auto-completion, multiple panes, a file system browser, good navigation options, and a package manager. In addition, a very important feature of Atom is the availability of virtually thousands of free packages, which completely increases its functionality.

Its user interface is friendly, and it comes with several themes that permit the user to select a visual environment of his liking.

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In general, Atom presents a wise choice, particularly for MEAN web developers.

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