Free online ODT to TXT converter

A script, legacy application, or device may accept only a plain .txt file rather than an OpenDocument document. Converting removes layout and formatting so the text can be edited, imported, shared, or processed by basic and command-line tools.

What the ODT format is

ODT, or OpenDocument Text, is the word-processing format defined by the OpenDocument standard and used by LibreOffice Writer, Apache OpenOffice Writer, and other compatible office suites. An ODT file is a ZIP-based package containing XML document data and may include styles, headings, images, tables, page layouts, comments, hyperlinks, and embedded objects.

What the TXT format is

A TXT file contains plain character data without document formatting. It does not preserve fonts, colors, heading styles, images, tables, page breaks, comments, text boxes, or embedded objects. Its small size and broad compatibility suit scripts, configuration files, logs, source content, archival extracts, and applications that accept only plain text.

Text encoding is separate from the .txt extension. UTF-8 is the usual choice because it supports accented characters, Cyrillic, Asian scripts, emoji, and other Unicode text.

How to convert the file

Using LibreOffice Writer

1. Open the .odt file in LibreOffice Writer.
2. Select File → Save As.
3. Choose Text (.txt) or Text - Choose Encoding (.txt) as the file type.
4. Enter the output filename, select Save, and choose Use Text Format if LibreOffice displays a format warning.
5. In the encoding dialog, select UTF-8 unless the receiving system specifically requires another encoding, then confirm the export.

LibreOffice can also convert files without opening its graphical interface:

libreoffice --headless --convert-to txt --outdir output document.odt

Create the output directory first if it does not exist. The command normally creates document.txt in that directory; use the graphical method when you need to verify the encoding or export options.

Using 101convert.com

You can convert an ODT file on 101convert.com without installing software: open its ODT-to-TXT converter, add the file, start the conversion, and download the resulting TXT file. Do not upload confidential documents unless the service’s handling and retention terms are acceptable for that content.

Quality and compatibility limits

The export retains readable text but discards the document’s visual structure. Paragraphs generally become lines of text, while tables may become sequences of values separated by spaces or tabs. Headers, footers, footnotes, comments, hyperlinks, list indentation, text boxes, and other elements may be omitted, flattened, reordered, or difficult to interpret.

Legacy software may require an encoding such as Windows-1252 instead of UTF-8. Select the required encoding in LibreOffice’s text export dialog; otherwise, non-ASCII characters may display as incorrect symbols. A TXT file also contains no original ODT revision history, styles, layout metadata, or encryption.

Open the exported file in a plain-text editor and check characters, line breaks, lists, and table readability before sending it or importing it into another program.