Free online RTF to WAV converter

Some players and recording workflows accept WAV files but cannot use an RTF document. Converting the document to WAV means using text-to-speech to create spoken audio; RTF itself contains formatted text, not recorded sound.

What the RTF format is

RTF (Rich Text Format) stores text and basic formatting such as fonts, boldface, and paragraph structure. WordPad, Microsoft Word, LibreOffice Writer, and other word processors can create or open RTF files, which are often used to exchange editable documents.

What the WAV format is

WAV is an audio container commonly used for uncompressed PCM sound. It is supported by many audio editors, media players, and recording applications; its uncompressed audio is easy to edit, but usually takes more storage than compressed formats such as MP3. A WAV made from RTF contains synthesized speech, not the original document’s formatting or any audio embedded in the file.

How to convert RTF to WAV

Online on 101convert.com

1. Upload the RTF file to the converter on this page. Multiple files can be added for batch conversion; the page shows the per-file size limit.
2. Before converting, select the voice language and reading speed.
3. Start conversion, then download the resulting WAV file or files.

Offline with desktop software

LibreOffice and eSpeak NG provide an open-source workflow on Linux: extract the document’s text, then synthesize it as WAV. In a terminal in the folder containing the RTF file, run:

1. libreoffice --headless --convert-to txt --outdir . input.rtf
2. espeak-ng -v en -s 165 -f input.txt -w output.wav

The first command creates input.txt; the second creates output.wav using an English voice at 165 words per minute. Install LibreOffice and eSpeak NG first. Change input.rtf, the voice code, or the speed to suit your file and language.

Balabolka is a free Windows desktop option that can open RTF and save synthesized speech as WAV. Open the file with File → Open, then use File → Save Audio File and select WAV in the save dialog.

Quality and limitations

Speech depends on the selected synthesis voice and language; the RTF file does not specify how it should sound. Text-to-speech may omit or awkwardly read layout elements such as tables, headers, and footnotes, so check the resulting audio. WAV files are commonly uncompressed and can be large, especially for long documents.