Free online ABW to TXT converter

A receiving system, script, or archive may accept only plain-text files, while the source document is stored in AbiWord’s ABW format. Converting it creates a smaller, widely readable file, but removes document formatting and other non-text content.

What the ABW format is

ABW is the native document format of AbiWord, a lightweight word processor used mainly in older Linux and cross-platform document collections. An ABW file can contain formatted paragraphs, fonts, styles, images, tables, lists, and other word-processing data; its underlying document structure is XML-based, although some files may use compression.

What the TXT format is

TXT contains character data without fonts, colors, page layout, images, tables, styles, headers, footers, or embedded objects. Plain text is small, supported by text editors, scripts, command-line tools, databases, logs, and archival systems, but it cannot preserve the original document’s visual appearance or complex structure.

How to convert ABW to TXT

Using AbiWord

1. Open the .abw file in AbiWord.
2. Choose File → Save As.
3. Set the output filename with a .txt extension.
4. Choose Text or Plain Text as the file type instead of AbiWord format.
5. Choose an encoding if AbiWord prompts for one. Select UTF-8 unless the receiving application requires a specific legacy encoding.
6. Open the saved file in a plain-text editor and check paragraph order, line breaks, accented characters, and non-Latin scripts.

Using LibreOffice

If AbiWord is unavailable, a current LibreOffice installation can often open ABW files and export them as text. Open the file, choose File → Save As, select Text or Text - Choose Encoding, save it with a .txt extension, and select UTF-8 in the encoding dialog. Compatibility depends on the ABW document’s features, so inspect the result after export.

Using 101convert

You can convert the file for free on 101convert.com without installing software: upload the ABW file, select TXT as the output format, start the conversion, and download the result. Do not upload confidential or personal documents unless the service’s privacy, retention, and processing terms are acceptable.

Quality and compatibility limits

Text export discards images, styling, page breaks, comments, and most layout information. Tables, columns, lists, and text boxes are reduced to a reading order; tabs or line breaks may provide approximate alignment, but the original table structure is not preserved. Extract important tabular data separately if it must remain machine-readable.

UTF-8 is the safest general-purpose encoding. Older software may require Windows-1252 or another regional encoding, but unsupported characters can be replaced or lost. Verify the output in the application that will consume it, especially when the source contains right-to-left writing, uncommon symbols, mixed line endings, or significant whitespace.