TextEdit – The default text editor on Macs is pretty good. In fact, if all you need from a text editor is to type something, format it a bit, and save it, then TextEdit will probably fit the bill easily. However, there is something about TextEdit that can be annoying to most people. If you try to save a TextEdit document, it won’t let you save it as a plain text file. So if you really want to use TextEdit and save your files in .txt format you can do it like this:
Create Files in TXT Format on Mac: Editing Preferences
Apparently, there is some kind of hidden feature in TextEdit that will allow us to save our files in plain text format. It requires us to go into TextEdit’s preferences and change some settings. Here’s what we need to do:
1. Start TextEdit and click “TextEdit -> PreferencesPress ” or “command + ,“.
2. “Open and Save” tab. Here we need to change two things, first tick the checkbox next to “.Add .txt extension to plain text files“; and secondly,Saving files“encoding”UTF-8“.
After changing these settings in Preferences, we can save files in plain text (.txt) format. Let’s try.
1. Start TextEdit and Create New Document.
2. Write some text to this document. Since we want to save a plain text file, we will not format the text in any way.
3. Now, “File -> SavePress ” or “command + S“.
4. In the Save dialog, you will see the “ option.If extension is not provided, use .txt“. It will be checked by default, but check if not.
5. Select where you want to save the plain text file and click “save“.
Your file will now be saved in plain text format (.txt) and you can now start using TextEdit to create plain text files like Notepad on Windows.
SEE ALSO: How to Get TouchBar Functionality on Any Mac
Save TextEdit Files in TXT Format
You can use this method to enable saving files in .txt format on your Mac. If you like to take notes and save them in .txt format, this can come in handy for easy review whenever you want. But did you know about this handy tweak in TextEdit preferences? If not, what app were you using to create plain text documents on your Mac? Also, if you know any other way to save files in .txt format on Mac, let us know in the comments section below.
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