Convert INP to TXT

An .inp file may need conversion when an editor, archive system, or script accepts only plain text instead of an InPage document. The usual workflow is to open it in InPage, export it to RTF, and then save the exported content as .txt.

What the INP format is

In the Documents context, .inp is the proprietary document format used by InPage, a desktop publishing and word-processing application widely used for Urdu and other South Asian-language content. An INP file can contain text, page layout, fonts, columns, illustrations, and other application-specific data; it is not a standard plain-text file.

The extension should not be changed before opening the file. A renamed file remains an InPage document and will not become readable text. Use the InPage version that created the file, or a compatible current version, because unsupported features or older encoding conventions can affect the export.

What the TXT format is

.txt stores unformatted character data and line breaks. It is supported by text editors, operating systems, scripts, databases, document-management systems, and archive tools without requiring InPage.

TXT does not retain fonts, page dimensions, columns, images, colors, tables, text positioning, headers, footers, or most document metadata. It is suitable for searching, editing the words, extracting text, importing content into another system, and basic archival when layout is irrelevant.

How to convert an INP file to TXT

Using InPage and RTF export

1. Make a backup copy of the original .inp file.
2. Open the copy in InPage and check that the Urdu text, punctuation, and special characters display correctly.
3. Use InPage's File → Export or File → Save As command and choose RTF (Rich Text Format), if available. Menu names vary between InPage releases.
4. Open the resulting .rtf file in Microsoft Word, LibreOffice Writer, or another word processor.
5. Choose File → Save As, select Plain Text or .txt, and choose UTF-8 when the program asks for an encoding.
6. Reopen the TXT file in a UTF-8-capable editor and verify Urdu letters, joining behavior, punctuation, line breaks, and paragraph order.

RTF is preferable to copying directly from a page-layout view because it provides an intermediate format that common word processors can interpret. If the InPage release offers a direct plain-text export, use it and still check the encoding and extracted order.

When RTF export is unavailable

Copy the required text from InPage and paste it into a Unicode-aware editor such as Notepad, Notepad++, Visual Studio Code, or LibreOffice Writer. Save the result as .txt with UTF-8 encoding. This method can omit text in linked frames, hidden objects, symbols, or unsupported fonts, so compare the result with the source.

Online converters and alternatives

Generic online converters usually do not understand proprietary InPage INP files. A service that merely changes .inp to .txt will not decode the document and may produce unusable output. Use an online service only if its current format list explicitly names InPage INP and its privacy terms permit uploading the document; do not upload confidential, personal, unpublished, or client-owned material.

For a reliable desktop workflow, InPage followed by Word or LibreOffice is the practical option. If InPage cannot open the file, ask the sender to export it to RTF, Unicode text, or PDF; PDF preserves appearance but is not a substitute for editable plain text.

Quality and compatibility limits

Converting to TXT removes page design and may change the reading order of multi-column or frame-based content. Embedded images, tables, decorative characters, and text represented by nonstandard fonts may be lost or replaced.

Older InPage files may use legacy character mappings rather than standard Unicode. An RTF export from a compatible InPage installation may convert those characters correctly, but a simple copy-and-paste can produce incorrect Urdu text. Inspect representative paragraphs and search for replacement characters such as ? or � before discarding the original.

Keep the original .inp and exported .rtf files. TXT is appropriate for text extraction and interchange, but it cannot be used to reconstruct the original InPage layout.