Free online WEBARCHIVE to RTF converter

WEBARCHIVE files are convenient for saving webpages but are not widely supported outside Apple software. Converting one to RTF makes its readable content easier to edit in word processors, share with users on other platforms, or store as a document.

What the WEBARCHIVE format is

WEBARCHIVE is an Apple Safari web-archive format, usually stored with the .webarchive extension. It packages a webpage’s HTML, images, stylesheets, and sometimes other linked resources into a single property-list-based file.

Safari on macOS creates WEBARCHIVE files through File → Save As when the format is set to Web Archive. You may encounter them in Safari downloads, macOS document folders, or archives created to preserve webpages for offline viewing. The format is less convenient on Windows and in general-purpose word processors because it depends on Safari or compatible WebKit software for reliable rendering.

What the RTF format is

RTF (Rich Text Format) stores formatted text, including fonts, sizes, styles, paragraphs, tables, and some embedded images. It is supported by TextEdit, Microsoft Word, LibreOffice Writer, WordPad, and many document-processing applications.

RTF is useful when the goal is editable document content rather than an exact offline copy of a webpage. It generally preserves basic formatting better than plain text while remaining more broadly interoperable than a Safari WEBARCHIVE.

How to actually convert WEBARCHIVE to RTF

Using Safari and TextEdit on macOS

1. Make a backup copy of the original .webarchive file.
2. Open the copy in Safari with File → Open File. Safari renders the archived webpage and its available resources.
3. Select the content you need with Command+A, then copy it with Command+C.
4. Open TextEdit and choose Format → Make Rich Text if the document is currently in plain-text mode.
5. Paste the copied content with Command+V. Review headings, links, tables, line breaks, and images.
6. Save the document through File → Save, choose Rich Text Format if a format selector is shown, and use an .rtf filename.

Using the built-in online converter

On 101convert.com, select the WEBARCHIVE file, choose RTF as the output format, start the conversion, and download the resulting .rtf file. This option avoids installing software, but do not upload archived pages containing confidential information.

Quality and compatibility limitations

The conversion transfers the webpage’s rendered or extracted document content, not the complete Safari archive structure. JavaScript behavior, forms, video, interactive controls, page metadata, navigation state, and some CSS effects do not belong in RTF and will be lost.

Copying from Safari may preserve visible text, links, basic styles, and some images, but complex layouts can collapse into a linear document. Check the RTF in the application where it will be used, especially if the WEBARCHIVE contains tables, multilingual text, unusual fonts, or large images.