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Free EPUB to RTF converter. No sign-up — turn ebooks into editable RTF documents that open in any word processor.
To convert EPUB to RTF: upload your file using the form below, select RTF as the output format, and click Convert. Our Calibre-powered engine processes the conversion in seconds with no registration required. The converter preserves text content, chapter structure, images, and metadata. For batch conversions of up to 50 files, upgrade to Pro.
Every EPUB to RTF conversion runs on the Calibre engine — the industry-standard open-source ebook library trusted by readers and tools worldwide. Calibre preserves fonts, chapter structure, and metadata far more faithfully than converters that rebuild files from scratch.
Drag & drop your file here
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EPUB is the open standard for reflowable ebooks. Inside the file is a ZIP archive holding XHTML chapters, CSS, images, and a manifest that tells the reader what order everything goes in.
The whole design assumes reading, not editing. Text reflows to fit the screen, the reader controls the typography, and the file has no notion of a page — which is exactly why it feels great on a Kobo and awful the moment you need to mark up a draft.
Things EPUB is genuinely good at:
RTF — Rich Text Format — is Microsoft's 1987 document interchange format. It stores formatted text as plain ASCII with control codes, which sounds primitive until you realize what it buys: near-universal compatibility.
Word opens it. LibreOffice opens it. Pages, WordPad, Google Docs, AbiWord, TextEdit, Scrivener, and a long tail of forgotten software all open it. No plugin, no version negotiation, no "this file was created in a newer version" dialog.
RTF supports:
1. Upload your EPUB. Drag it onto the upload area or browse for it. Uploads are capped at 10MB, which covers virtually every text-led ebook. Illustrated and full-colour titles can exceed it.
2. We unpack and rebuild. The converter reads the OPF spine to get correct chapter order, merges the XHTML chapters into a single flowing document, translates HTML structure into RTF control codes, and embeds images inline.
3. Download and edit. Open the .rtf in whatever word processor you actually use and start working.
Most books convert in fifteen to forty seconds. Longer or image-heavy titles take a bit more. Pro accounts add batch conversion and larger uploads if you are moving a whole collection into editable form.
Editing a book you wrote. Get your own manuscript back out of ebook form so you can revise it, then re-export when you are done.
Sending work to an editor. Editors work in word processors with track changes. Nobody marks up an EPUB.
Feeding legacy or institutional software. Some submission portals, court systems, and older publishing workflows still specify RTF and nothing else. It is a common lowest-common-denominator requirement.
Cross-platform handoffs. RTF moves between Windows, Mac, and Linux without the subtle layout drift that DOCX sometimes picks up along the way.
Quoting and excerpting. Pulling formatted passages out of a book for a report, a review, or a class handout is far easier from an editable document.
When RTF is the wrong choice: if you just want the words, EPUB to TXT is cleaner and produces a far smaller file. If you need modern Word features like comments and revision tracking, convert to DOCX instead.
RTF is a 1987 format handling content designed for 2020s reading apps. Some things do not make the trip.
Yes, that is the whole point. RTF opens in Microsoft Word, LibreOffice Writer, Pages, Google Docs, WordPad, and essentially every word processor in existence.
Yes, images are embedded in the RTF. Exact positioning and text wrapping get simplified, so illustrations sit in the text flow rather than in precise page locations.
Choose DOCX if you need track changes, comments, or modern Word features. Choose RTF when compatibility matters most — older software, institutional systems, or mixed Mac and Windows teams.
RTF encodes images as hexadecimal text rather than binary, which roughly doubles their size, and it has no ZIP compression. Expect illustrated books to grow noticeably.
Almost always DRM from a store purchase, which encrypts the file. Books you wrote, bought DRM-free, or downloaded from public-domain sources convert without issue.
Absolutely. All files are transferred over 256-bit TLS (SSL) encrypted connections. Your original file and converted file are automatically deleted from our servers within 1 hour. We never read, store, or share your content.
Deepen your understanding with expert conversion guides:
Lost digital libraries are a nightmare for any avid reader. You might have stumbled upon a rare technical manual in the old LIT format, found a classic literary anthology in DJVU, or inherited a collection of Russian literature in FB2. For years, these formats ruled the early internet book-sharing scene, but as technology moved forward, support for them faded. Now, you likely find yourself stuck with files that your modern e-reader, tablet, or phone cannot open natively. The solution is not to start over from scratch; it is to convert. Whether you need to move your old LIT files to the universal EPUB standard, compress DJVU archives into readable PDFs, or simply clean up the formatting of an old FB2 file, modern conversion tools like BookConv make this process seamless. This guide will walk you through why these legacy formats are problematic today and how you can quickly rescue your digital reading experience across LIT, DJVU, FB2, and RTF files.
EPUB 2 and EPUB 3 are the two versions of the open ebook standard. Most readers handle both without you noticing, but they are not the same underneath. EPUB 3 added multimedia, better accessibility, and richer navigation. Here is what changed and whether it matters for your books.
Kobo's own format is already EPUB under the hood (its tuned variant is called KEPUB), so "converting a Kobo book to EPUB" is often simpler than it sounds — or impossible, if the book is store-DRMed. This guide explains both cases and what you can actually do.
Format explainers and in-depth comparisons:
Your EPUB looks perfect in a reader but turns into a messy PDF — odd page breaks, shifted images, missing fonts. Here is why, and how to fix it.
Kindle won't open EPUB natively, and a careless EPUB to MOBI conversion scrambles your chapter breaks and drops your images. Here's how to convert cleanly with BookConv — free, in your browser, no software to install — and keep your layout.
You have an EPUB and a Kindle, and emailing it gives you a broken layout. AZW3 is the format that keeps your styling intact. Here is how to convert EPUB to AZW3 the right way.
“BookConv saved me hours of manual work. I convert all my manuscript drafts to EPUB and MOBI in seconds. The quality is perfect — no formatting loss at all.”
Sarah Mitchell
Self-published author
“We use BookConv daily to help our patrons convert old LIT files to modern formats. It's fast, free, and requires no software installation. A must-have tool.”
James Rodriguez
Librarian
“I've tried many converters, but BookConv is the only one that handles FB2 and AZW3 without issues. The batch conversion feature is a game-changer for my workflow.”
Yuki Tanaka
Digital content creator